The End of All Hope
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Across the vast, empty wasteland of Hueco Muendo, there is no law. Those who are strong, those who hold the power, dictate the balance in this wretched and forsaken world. That balance, is about to be shattered by a pair of hollow. IchigoxNel Romance.
1. Prologue Dawn of Darkness

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, havent I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD**

**Dawn of Darkness**

Deep in the bowels of Hueco Muendo, she hid and prayed for her life.

The child ducked beneath her hands, silently praying to whatever deity that was out there. She waited, and waited, for the pain to come, but there was nothing, nary a sound, but for the blood pounding inside her ears. She dared to open one eye. And still, the end did not come.

Confused, the child sat up, a single hand rubbing the ghoulish helmet that covered most of her forehead. She had tumbled into a small crater, and apparently, the monster had elected not to follow her. It had been chasing all this time, the thump thump of its leathery wings always present.

No longer.

Quivering, the child drew her faded green cloak tight about her tiny body, and willed herself to peek over the lip of her hidey-hole. All that greeted her was the empty, open air, obscurred by a massive dark shape. Her stalker loomed overhead, drooling restlessly as it surveyed the flat plain.

She shivered, and willed herself not to move. At length, it gave one last keening hiss, and swung away toward the south, until it was lost from sight. Its cries grew fainter, fainter...And then they too, were lost to the winds. She sat up again and released a long since pent up sigh.

Maybe her prayers _had_ been answered.

_"Giiiiiiiii!"_

A loud crash to her right cracked the child out of her thoughts. A plume of sand was rising out of the earth next to her, a man's bloodied body lying in the center of the crater that had caused the small eruption. The man stood up swiftly, ignoring the blood that was trickling down from the corner of his mouth and the obvious sight of a broken arm. He didn't seem to care that his snow white robes were likewise soaked in blood.

Or the fact that the massive creature had inexplicably doubled back and collided with him, instead of her. He barked something that surprised the beast, for it bolted back into the air seconds later, with a defiantly boisterous caw.

"Ah, _fuck."_ He groaned, glancing at the shattered limb that had once been whole. "This is what I get for playing the hero?" With an exasperated sigh, the stranger reached for the massive shape that had been strapped to his back this entire time. The girl skittered back at the sight of it.

"Guess I have to kill you now, ugly."

Nearly double the length of its wielder, this sword, was _not _a sword. More of a massive knife than anything else, the well worn steel glinted dully in the faint illumination provided by Hueco Muendo's moon. The hand that held it was equally scared, blackened and charred by wounds both old and fresh, lifeblood soaking the once pristine grey cloth that was wrapped about the cleaver's handle, a dull, tasteless crimson.

It stank of decay.

She gazed upon the massive blade he wielded, and felt her eyes grow wide in awe. As her gaze traveled upward, she noticed that he too, wore an elaborate, albeit broken, mask, though his ended in a pair of fiendesh looking horns, horns that now sparked, and burned unmistakeably red.

_"Cero."_

The man snarled aloud, the dull thump of the doom blast drowning out his words. The hollow didn't have time to react – the attack came from too short a distance. The red beam slammed against its chest and sent it screaming backwards into the air, much to the child's disblief, the cero kept going, rocketing the one-time adjuchas towards the moon of Hueco Muendo. Her vision was dizzying slightly as she stopped, blinked and the heat of the _cero _dissipated from the air, but she was able to see the dark sky flash gold from the explosion above her as she struggled to get up.

_Arrancar._

The word popped into her shattered mind as she watched the miniature mushroom cloud billowing out on the horizon. And still, the stranger stood there, unflinching, uncaring, as the wind viciously beat at his form, and splayed the smooth locks of his strawberry blond hair all about his face.

Was this one a numeros? Or maybe even a-

"Oi." He called, to no one in particular. "Don't tell me that's it? A big fella like you oughta-"

An indignant shriek, followed by the massive shadow that now eclipsed the moon itself, confirmed that the predator, although badly burned by the man's cero, was still very much alive. The girl squeaked once and hid herself behind the man, ignoring the irritated grunt her efforts earned her.

It, the adjuchas that had so doggedly pursued her, was a massive creature, twice as large than the Gillian that roamed the forest below, but nowhere near as stupid. Cold, violet blue eyes blazed out from behind its seamless mask of chiseled porcelain, breaking only at the lips, revealing viciously sharp teeth the size of toothpicks when given comparison to its towering wingspan, whch greated massive gales force winds that threatened to throw the sands themselves into the air and leave Hueco Muendo even more bare and arid then it had been before.

It looked angry.

Very angry.

"Mister," the girl began, her senses suddenly returning to her. "Are you—"

"I'm fine, idjit." he cut her off with a swipe of, his blade even though his eyes were focused on the creature in the air above them. A small smirk played on his lips as he dropped back into a defensive position. The arrogant smile on his weather worn face frightened the child a little bit. It was a tad unnerving how much the smirk reminded her of the monster that had been all too ready to devour her moments before. She gulped slowly.

And released her deathgrip on the arrancar's ankle.

"I'm fucking _great_," the man said as he launched himself back into the fight, the unexpectedly sudden ascent kicking up a large cloud of dust in his wake of his attack. Another _cero_, this one even larger than its predecessor, could already be seen dancing between his horns, even as the distance between them reduced the arrancar to little more than a speck. Joined now by two ceperate _cero_, each cupped in a seperate hand, the man _burst _forward, little more than a crimson streak of light as he bulleted toward the towering adjuchas, who, oddly enough, remained baffled.

_"Giiiiii?"_

The adjuchas, taken aback by the audacity of such a move, beat its wings fretfully as its pea-sized brain struggled to come to terms with a food source that was actually running _toward _it, instead of away. By the time it realized that such prey would likely make a bad meal, it was too late.

The arrancar landed upon the bridge of the adjuchas's beak and _screamed_. Three _cero,_ coallescing into one titanic beam of pure destruction, slammed into the adjuchas with such force and velocity, that its ascent became a _descent_, drilling the now disintegreating corpse into the dunes with enough force to cause every tree and pillar within a mile to crumble. Still, desperate to find some hope of escape, the hollow opened what remained of its mouth, revealing ugly purple light shining from the back of its gullet... only to find that its lungs had already been burned away.

With a wheezing gasp, the hollow burned away into nothingness, and was gone.

"Oi."

She shrieked and scrambled backward, only to find that the arrancar had already materialized behind her. Golden black eyes burned into that of frightened hazel as he glared down at her with barely contained malice, and she, gazed up at him, with a curious mix of wonderment and fear.

...name?" She blinked, realized he'd been speaking to her.

"Eh?" She blinked. "Whuzzat?"

"Oh for the love of," The arrancar _growled_, a very human sound, considering what she'd just witnessed, and scooped her up by the hem of her cloak, leaving her to dangle before those smoldering golden coals that were his eyes. "Your name, idjit! I asked you for your name!"

"N-N-N...

"For crying out loud!"

The girl wailed and hid her head when the arrancar roared in disbelief. After a series of lengthy curses and incessant shouting, the arrancar managed to compose himself to calmly, albeit with teeth clenched, ask the name of the arrancar girl. After a series of stutters, she managed:

"N-Nel."

"Ichigo." The arrancar replied gruffly, slinging the massive tang over his shoulder without a second thought, where it was immediately bound in place by a series of intricately woven vines. "You owe me big time, idjit." He pointedly jerked a thumb towards the scorched sand where the remains of the massive adjuchas continued to dissolve."If I hadn't been passing through you woulda been lunch for birdbrain over there-

"Itsygo?" She tried, and fumbled over his name immediately. "Den aw you one a da Espa-

The arrancar responded to _that_, by abruptly dropping Nel on her butt.

"It's Ichigo. I-chi-go." He repeated warningly, glaring at her. "And even though I don't feel like answering your question, no, idjit, I'm not a numeros, and I sure as hell ain't one of those fucking wussy espada that sit around in Las Noches and do absolutely _shit _all day. Satisfied?"

Nel managed a simple nod.

"Good." Ichigo snapped. "Later, idjit."

With a dull static punch he dissapeared.

"Itsygo!"

"..."

"Wait!" Nel tripped over her own two feet as she scampered after him. She needn't have bothered, for Ichigo _reappeared _seconds later, scowling as Nel crashed into his knee, bounced off, and immediately began to sniffle as she fitfully rubbed at the crack in her mask to ease the pain.

"Owie...

"What is it now?" Ichigo sighed. "I've _already _saved your life, what more could you possibly want from me!"

Nel folded her arms stubbornly.

"I wanna go wit you!"

In that instant, Ichigo lost all sense of composure.

"Oh, hell no!"

**A/N: Does she go with him or not? PM me for votes peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Note and explanation time, this is BEFORE Aizen has even started recruting arrancar and what-not. Yes, Ichigo is dead, he has died before he ever met Rukia because he died along with his mother when Grand Fisher attached. YES, events of Soul Society will be included. YES, we will see Nel in her real form, the reason why she is a kid will be explained. YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**


	2. Dawn of Decay

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, havent I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD**

**Dawn of Decay**

_"Idjit."_ Ichigo spat, his voice full of venom, his expression stormy at best. "Why the in the nine circles of hell should I bring _you _with _me?"_

"Nel...Nel can-

"You mean that slimy stuff you puke out?" Ichigo banished her words with a dismissive wave of his bad arm, which, as Nel looked on, continued to slowly restitch itself, and was already halfway to becoming fully healed. Ichigo noted her stare and sneered. "I can regenerate on my own. Next!"

Three attempts to convince Ichigo of her worth each failed miserably, all before Nel could even finish a single sentence. So she was fast? Ichigo was much, much, _much _faster. So she didn't eat much? Ichigo proudly stated that he didn't eat at all, though his growling stomach suggested otherwise. And as he'd just demonstrated, he didn't need to cover himself in 'puke' to heal his wounds. At a loss, she found she had nothing.

Nothing left to say, and she wanted to follow him sooooooo badly!

Nel glared up at him through hot, stinging tears, and willed herself not to cry. She knew, she somehow just knew, that Ichigo would scoff at her sobs and chalk it off as another sign of weakness, out of frustration. This mean man who had saved her life, he made her so...so...

"Nel's comin' an' there's nothin' you can do about it!"

Ichigo started violently at her outburst, eyes wide in disbelief.

"You...

"Nel's comin'!"

At this, Ichigo seemed to regain some of his composure, only to lose it utterly. With a sudden explosion of sand, he dissapeared, reappearing several yards away with a sharp punch of static

"The fuck you aren't!" He snapped back defiantly, confident that he'd placed enough distance between them.

_"Yes Nel is!" _With that, the little arrancar traipsed right out into the heat, her face turned up in a defiant pout as she doggedly pursued Ichigo. The fearsome arrancar swore and took off in the opposite direction, but remarkably, Nel remained only a few feet behind him. It occured to Ichigo that he could have simply used _Sonido_, that is, his own high speed movement, to outpace her, but for some reason, he found himself unable to do so.

_'Damn kid!'_

Ichigo whirled around, forcing Nel to skid to a halt, lest she mow the larger arrancar down. She crossed her arms, folded her legs, and defiantly placed herself directly in his path, heedless of the fact that Ichigo could just as easily step over or around her, and continue on his journery.

"Oi, idjit." He planted one hand on her skull cap, and leaned forward, bringing both arrancar eye to eye with one another. "Do you really wanna follow me _that _badly? If I tell you _why _I'm doing this shit, will you still wanna come?"

"Hai!"

Ichigo smiled at her, his mouth curving upwards with a glimmer of vibrancy. Jerking one thumb towards his back, he bid Nel to climb onto his shoulder, without bothering to explain why. One she had firmly seated herself on the rigid musculature of Ichigo's right shoulder, he grinned.

"Alright then, idjit, here's my reason. I have none!"

Suddenly, and without warning, the floor opened up beneath and before them, a gaping pit in the middle of the desert. Ichigo whistled tunelessly as ge leapt the last three feet or so that seperated them from the murky abyss and solid ground. Before Nel could ask what he meant to do...

Ichigo tipped forward.

"Hang the fuck on, idjit."

"Eh? What aw you-AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Nel, clung to Ichigo's back for dear life and braced herself for the impact against what she assumed would be solid ground. But to her astonishment, the rough collision she'd been expecting did not occur. Instead, she felt herself fall _through _the desert floor and into the massive catacombs below. She looked around in shock as she continued her free-fall; massive crystalline pillars reached up into an endless canopy of earth. Below her was an inky darkness that stretched out for miles, the floor of this subterranean world shrouded in distance and fog.

She screamed until she was breathless, and only _then_, did Ichigo speak.

"Welcome," Ichigo cackled in delight as he craned his neck up to meet Nel's terrified gaze with a demented grin all his own. "To Menos Forest."

The softening winds continued to blow across the endless, moon-drenched dunes, ushering a lonely howl through the desert and into their ears. It was the most desparing, disparaging, heart-wrenching sound ever to be heard in this realm or the next, and, had its macabre audience possesed any sort of conscience in their withered existence, then this sound would have filled all those above and below with grief and sorrow.

Such was the sound that it could be heard below the sand, reverberating dimly off the walls of a makeshift, ramshackle cave. Little more than stones heaped atop one another and then welded together with intense heat, the unnatural formation stuck out like a sore thumb in the clearing.

"This is where Itsygo lives?" Completely ignoring the arrancar's exasperated snarl of 'do not call me that', Nel warily approached the cavern's mouth, and without another word, darted into the opening. Ichigo stomped after her, hollering instructions not to break anything, and yes, that hamock in the corner was his, not hers. Soon thereafter, amid the warm light of fire, Nel noticed the sole ornamentation that the cave had to offer.

A photo.

Nel blinked, hazel eyes shifting to the right, just now noticing the cracked frame. Contained within, was the image of a beautiful woman, cradling a young boy in her arms. Both of them had smiled brightly into the camera at the time, but when asked who the lady was, Ichigo scowled darkly.

"Itsygo?"

"My mother." Ichigo whispered, quietly, calmly, the type of calm that suggested a storm was brewing behind that furrowed brow and lightning was sparking within those deceptively placid golden eyes Removing himself from the seat, he faced away from her. "That's all you need to know, idjit."

"Den where is-

"Drop it." Ichigo's warning came but once as his hand sparked with the unreleased red strain that Nel recognized at once to be a bala. That is, a hollow bullet, capable of knocking the air, and likely her life, right out her, twenty times faster than a cero would."I didn't bring you along for-

A massive roar suddenly bellowed from somewhere outside the cavern, interrupting whatever it was Ichigo had been about to say. Nel rushed to the mouth of the cave, her eyes immediately widening at what she saw. Before her, _above her, _stood at least a dozen _Gillian_-level Menos, their large white faces towering above the layer of fog that enveloped the ground. She watched in stunned silence as the huge beasts continued to move in lumbering unison, their black bodies bumping against each other as they marched through the darkness.

"_Gillian_," Ichigo she breathed through her teeth, Ichigo tsking in disaproval by her side.

"Give the girl a fucking prize."

Nel had always heard about the Menos Forest; the mass of Hollows that gathered beneath the surface of Hueco Mundo was essentially the birthplace of every hollow as it came into existence. While most humans would never, _ever _see this wonderous place with their own eyes, it was nonetheless an important location for the evolution of Hollows. This was where every Menos Grande-level Hollow was born.

This was the nursery of the _Vasto Lorde_.

One of the _Gillian _in the line suddenly stopped, the one directly behind him bumping into it with an inattentive stupidity. The lead monster maintained its inactivity for a few moments before opening its ghastly smile and snapping a red _cero _down into the fog-covered ground. Within a second or two, the rest of the line followed suit, each of the massive Hollows blasting towards the ground with their enormous crimson rays.

"Dumbasses." Ichigo laughed, a dry, barking sound, devoid of amusement. "They're just as likely to blast each other as they are to-

Ichigo never finished his sentence. Instead, he suddenly unsheathed his sword from its makeshift tether and stepped farther towards the mouth of the cavern, causing Nel to blink in surprise.

"Itsygo?"

_"Quiet." _

He placed a single finger to his lips, gesturing for silence when she tried to speak again. His entire being had stiffened under an invisible strain, one that caused his jaw to clench, and his knees to quiver, ever so slightly. Nel didn't have to ask what this was, as an invisible hand _slammed _her face first in the ground and held her there. She'd felt this once before. This, was the spiritual power, reaitsu, of a very powerful hollow.

How Ichigo could even stand, let alone move under this incredible force, escaped Nel. It was all she could do just to raise her head, whimpering now, as Ichigo, his visage taut and rigid with anticipation, stamped the rest of the way to the entrance, leaving her where she lay.

It was coming closer.

For the second time that day, Ichigo smiled.

_"Come out."_

Deep within the trees of the Menos Forest, _something _smiled.

"It would seem that I am discovered, trespasser."

The hollow tumbled/stepped into the cave, producing an eerie popping, snapping sound as it moved. It straightened up with some difficulty, looked Ichigo square in the eye, and began to speak."The great Barragan-sama, god of this world and the next, lord venerable ruler of all that is-

Ichigo's blade to the hollow's throat abruptly shortened the message. The crab-like hollow clicked its twin pincers, one larger than the other, in furious surprise, before the trickle of purple blood from the blade convinced it otherwise. At length, its cleared the bubbles from its mouth.

"Ah, yes...sorry about that. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Findor Carrias. My lord and ruler, the great Barragan-sama, he wishes to speak with you concerning your most deliberate acts of trespass upon the grounds of his castle that is and always will be, Las Noches."

"Castle?" Ichigo scoffed, as Nel looked on silently. "Take me to this Barra-whatever guy then. I'll enjoy burning his castled to the ground."

"Ah," Here, Findor smiled. "I'm afraid that will not be possible."

"What?"

"It is quite simple. "Findor spread his sport, stubby pincers wide, his voice rising in pitch as he spoke. " You see, the entirety of Hueco Muendo is Barragan-sama's castle. It's sky is his roof, the walls, the very air that we breathe, those fools and their palace that dares to call itself Las Noches, can be eliminated at anytime by Barragan-sama, should he so will it! We are but his vassals, pawns for Barragan-sana to do with as he pleases!"

"All right," Ichigo nodded slowly. "Now, I definitely want to meet this Barragan guy."

"And why is that?" Findor remarked mildly, wincing as Ichigo took the blade away from his throat.

"No reason." Ichigo's shit eating grin answered all. "I just want to kill him."

**A/N: Uh-oh! What on Earth is Ichigo thinking? PM me for votes peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Note and explanation time, this is BEFORE Aizen has even started recruting arrancar and what-not. YES, Ichigo is a vasto lorde class arrancar. YES, Peschke Dondochakka, and Bawabawa will pop up eventually. YES, we will see Nel in her real form, the reason why she is a kid will be explained. YES, it is POSSIBLE that Ichigo will gain access to his shinigami powers because his is after all, half-shinigami thanks to Isshin. YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**


	3. Dawn of Destruction

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, havent I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD**

**Dawn of Destruction**

_"Findor." _The creature on the throne boomed menacingly upon their arrival. "You were told to bring these urchins to my palace, not allow them to ride upon your back as though you were a common beast of burden."A whisper of snickering snaked through the congregation of hollows, and Findor bubbled angrily.

"So this is it, huh?" Ichigo scoffed loudly as he leapt of Findor's back, with Nel following suit moments later. "I mean, crab legs over there told me that you didn't have a roof or walls, but damn! All I see is the floor!"

Again, Findor bubbled angrily.

"Indeed, you are correct." The shadow on the throne rose then with a practiced air, as though he had done so many times before, and would likely do so again. "All that you see before you is Las Noches, my palace. The sky is my roof, and the air itself is the boundary of my domain."

"Uh-uh." Ichigo rolled his eyes, as he was already becoming impatient. "And you wanted to see me because-

"I Barragan Luisenbarn have summoned you here, to offer you a choice." With that, he descended the remainder of the stairs and walked into the moonlight, revealing himself to actually be a skeleton wrapped in a dark purple robe, instead of extremely thin hollow wearing an ornate garment, as Ichigo had first assumed."The first choice is for you to join my army as I have asked other's before, and the other is for you to vanish to a place where I cannoy see you. However, because there is no place in Las Noches that I cannot see, that presents everyone with a bit of a dilemna."

"You want us to join your army then." Ichigo fixed Barragan with a deadpan glare as he stalked toward the vasto lorde. "Well then, here's your answer. No. Fucking. Way."

Nel nodded emphatically.

"Itsygo's right, dumbie!"

"I see." Barragan appeared saddened by this, until he suddenly extended a hand. "My condolonces then, arrancar. I would rather us part on peaceful terms, then, yes?"

Ichigo, not buying the ruse for a second, smirked and extended his own hand, as if he truly intended to clasp Barragan's bony wrist with his own.

"But of course-

"Don't!" Findor shouted, causing Ichigo to suddenly backpedal, but it was already too late. With a sickening pop, his right arm hung limply at his side, and Barragan still reached forward. Ichigo didn't hesitate, opening his mouth, revealing the shining red light of a cero behind his teeth.

Barragan hadn't the time to dodge, he only frowned as the blast struck him head on, creating a thick cloud of black smoke. Seconds later, Ichigo howled in pain and flew out of the smoke, missing his right arm altogether, the shriveled stump of it slowly crumbling to dust three feet away.

Scarcely had he time to blink then Nel had scrambled up his shoulder.

"Itsygo!" Nel yelped in surprise, grabbing his arm, then wrist when it regenerated. "You awm! Is you awm awright?"

_"Idjit." _Ichigo snarled, wincing as he flexed his already regenerated hand into a fist, the motion of which caused Nel to abruptly tumble of his shoulders. "Don't you _ever _say that to me again."

"I am inclined to agree, arrancar. That display of concern was most inappropriate of you, child."

To Ichigo's disbelief, the silvery flames slowly receded, revealing Barragan, entirely unharmed, if a little singed. With a deliberate slowness, Barragan stepped forward as the tiles beneath his feet began to grind themselves into dust. Ichigo stepped back cautiously, his mind racing as he searched for a plan against his demonic opponent. He knew ALREADY that Barragan's powers were extremely deadly; keeping a prudent distance between himself and his opponent would be the key to his victory.

But then there was Nel…

"Are you worried about the girl?" Barragan asked quietly, his voice sounding as hollow and skeletal as his body. "You needn't worry about her; I _may _need her to stay alive yet. You, on the other hand, are quite useless to me, now that you now my secret. Now, suffer the dying breath."

"!"

"_Respira."_

A black haze began to creep from Barragan's ivory jaws, its nebulous swiftly roiling towards Ichigo. Fearing what the pungent mist might do if it made contact, the arrancar threw himself away from it, slinging a wave of red light towards his opponent's attack as a counter. The _Cero_ collided with the virulent fog and immediately began evaporating against it. Three more blasts of red brilliance produced the same effect.

"Fuck." Ichigo spat, retreating once more, biting his thumb now, and summoning an even larger cero from his bloodstained palm. "Then let's see how you deal with-

_"Gran Caida."_

Ichigo could only blink in surprise as Barragan appeared behind him, the massive shape of an axe eclipsing him in shadow. Then his legs toppled out from under him, and the arrancar collapsed to the floor, a look of complete and open surprise clear on his face, even as he swiftly bled out.

As the light in his eyes faded, Kurosaki Ichigo had time for single word, a single act of pure willpower. With agonizing slowness, he raised his gaze to meet those of his onetime companion, who stared blankly back, eyes wide with disbelief. He raised a trembling arm in her direction, whispering:

"Nel."

And the last breath left him.

For a moment, there was silence.

With an agonizing stiffness, Nel stumbled toward him. He lay there, the lower half of his body slowly rotting away, while his upper torso remained in existence, staring at her, mocking her, with those cold blank, empty eyes. His mouth closed in a silent smile, as if he had been sleeping.

"I-Itsygo?"

"Well done, Findor." Barragan tapped one finger lightly upon his servant as he swetp past. "You have earned the right to live through this day."Findor groaned at the touch, the hunched back of his segmented carapace slumping in defeat as his beady yellow eyes watched Nel.

_'Forgive me, little one.'_

And then Barragan spoke:

"Buying yourself time from he who rules it," Barragan said coldly as his weapon retreated into the many folds of his cloak. "You stupid little shit." With a sweeping gesture of his arms, the vasto lorde swung his ancient frame in the opposite direction, now facing his congregation. "I leave him here to rot! Let this be a lesson to all those who would dare defy me, for they shall meet the same fate as he!"

Nel, who had begun to quiver at those words, was now trembling violently as she stood, a red haze descending upon her vision as Barragan lowered his arms and turned away, his speech apparently finished. Nel wasn't finished. She wanted to kill this man, this filthy, ugly despicable creature who had taken Itsygo's life, taken her friend from her. She wanted to throttle him, squeeze the life from his bones, make him beg-

Ironically, it was when Barragan reached for the blade, still strapped to Ichigo's shoulder, the one she feared so very, very much, that Nel finally found her voice. It was little more than a squeak, then she darted across the sand, picked up Ichigo's blade, and pointed it...

Right.

At.

Barragan.

"Nel no Baka!" Findor hissed furiously, scurrying to her side and reaching for the blade, desperate to prevent another casualty. "Put that down this instant! You'll be-

Nel swatted Findor away with a flick of her wrist. The abrupt blow sent the crab-like adjuchas tumbling end over end before he landed on his back, legs flailing wildly as he struggled to right himself. Barragan watched this humorous display with thinly veiled amusement.

"Oho?"

"Urusai." Nel hissed, eyes wide, hands shaking with the effort it took to hold the blade and keep it level. Strangely, as she spoke, her voice lost its lisp and became startlingly clear "You don' get ta' talk about Itsygo like dat. Nobody talks about Ichigo like that! NOBODY!"

_This was not her voice._

_"Nani?"_ Barragan paused, enunciating the word with obvious exaggeration, amusement playing off his features."Does this little one have something to say? Speak up now child, I can't possibly hear you if you don't raise your-

"Urusai! Nel will...will...I'll... I'll...I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER!" Nel had long since gone beyond rationality and fear, and the pain coming from her mask threatened to split her skull in two, but still, she could not stop the words. They spilled from her lips like a waterfall, and she felt herself grow stronger for them, with every passing moment. She felt as if she were about to pass out from the strain of it. It was wonderful.

It was horrible.

_What was happening to her?_

Nel glared up at him defiantly, this monster who had killed Ichigo, who could extinguish _her life_ in an instant...

And she felt no fear. Even as her vision grew hazy, even as the most immense reaitsu she'd ever known surrounded her, filled her, Nel was elated to realize that she was not afraid of this hulking shadow that loomed over her like death itself. And with that realization, the pain vanished.

_Ba-dump._

All at once, Nel stiffened, her petite form becoming rigid, her eyes shooting wide as the reaitsu burst through her limbs once more. The pain was gone for the moment, but in her heart had been replaced by something just as awful. And still, her heart slammed into her chest. The blade fell.

_Ba-dump._

"You?" Barragan, bemused before, now scowled, and batted the blade away with one hand, while the other, raised the massive cleaver that was his _Gran Caida,_ high over Nel's head. "Kill me? Perhaps I was wrong about you, little one. You may have outlived your usefulness to me. After all-"

_Ba-dump._

With a sudden roar, something broke and Nel screamed-

Scarcely had Barragan voiced his opinion of Nel's opinion, than a bright white shot of _something _slammed into the skeletal hollow. Now, nothing, absolutely _nothing_, had ever struck Barragan Luisenbarn before. His time dilation field had always ensured that any aggressor who dared to approach him directly would become as dust in the wind and be blown away. _Never _had he felt the pain of being slammed to the ground.

Until now.

"Impossible!" Barragan shrieked as Ichigo, very much alive and well, reached down through the cloud of debris, through the invisible currents of reaitsu that surrounded him, to pluck the vasto lorde off his perch as if he weighed no more than a human infant would."You...how can you-

"Itsygo!" Nel gaped, then gasped, as the pain rushed down to claim her again. With a whimper, the world returned to her, and she curled herself into a small ball, just as Findor scuttled back over to her, pincers raised menacingly to warn away a hollow that dared come near her.

"Surprised?" Ichigo smiled a bit too pleasantly, his voice muffled and distorted over the howling winds. "So am I."

Until this very moment, Barragan had yet to experience the fear that crept through your every pore, the terror that consumed you when you realized that your enemy had you by the throat a blade to your skull, and there was nowhere for you to flee. He was superior, and here, this cretin, _this boy_, had humbled, brought him lower than the lowsest of gillian. As such, the God of Hueco Muendo did not react at all well to this.

"Release me at once, you insignificant ant!"

"Ah, ah." Ichigo shook his head very slowly. "See, I'm not big on the whole 'releasing my enemies once I've gotten a hold of them' deal. It kinda defeats the purpose, you know? I mean, you go to all the trouble of beating the living _shit_-And here he heaved Barragan into a pillar- out of them, and then you just let them crawl away when you're not looking?" Findor scampered out of the way as his lord burst through the rubble.

"You will pay for this, boy! I swear by my very bones, you will-

It was only then that he noticed the sudden abscence of his most precious object. Reaching a hand to his cranium, Barragan's fingers closed around bare bone. Indeed, Ichigo twirled the ornate crown upon his forefinger, grinning with obvious delight as the vasto lorde roared his fury.

"Now do you see the difference between us? Your field thing, whatever the hell it is, it wont work on me anymore."

"This _is _no difference between us, you pitiful insect!" With a visible effort, Barragan drew himself up and exhaled regally. "You are but a grain of sand, compared to me! I could crush you in an instant, should I choose to do so!" With a disgusted snort at that, Ichigo tossed the crown back.

"Is that so, oldtimer? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were afraid."

"Silence, you impudent pup!"

"B-Barragan-sama," From the rigid line of hollow, a voice meekly spoke up. "Maybe we should-

_"I SAID SILENCE!"_

"Y-Yessir!"

Ichigo scowled darkly, sparing Barragan a long sidelong glance as the ruler of Las Noches turned his furious gaze upon the congregation, daring anyone else to contradict his statement. When none seconded the attempts of the first adjuchas to speak, Ichigo loudly cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I believe a little demonstration is in order. You have five seconds to get out of here if you want to live. One, two-Five." In a slow and deliberate motion, his blade was drawn, raised tip first toward the sky. Clouds closed in across the clear sky, darkening the light of the moon.

"Kill."

With a sudden explosion of dark red light, Ichigo's blade _shattered_, just as his skin turned chalk white. The slight breeze, which had continued to circle about the arrancar this entire time, now exploded into a bonecrushing gale buffeting all those in its path. As the miniature tornado swelled in size, so did it sweep up the sand and the tiles, creating a darkening malevolent malestrom of debris that sheltered their owner from sight.

Findor, having scuttled back to the perimeter of the courtyard during this little altercation, had the prescence of mind to secure himself to a nearby pillar with one pincer, whilst the other gripped Nel just as tightly to him. Her cries of protest, and for Ichigo, were ripped away by the storm.

And even then, it was all the poor crab could do to keep _himself _from being ripped away. All those who did not likewise secure themselves were bodily pulled from the ground and into the unforgiving vortex that Ichigo had become. They were discarded as bloodied chunks of flesh.

When at last the wind had died down, the survivors, and even Barragan himself, were stunned into silence. Long, willowly fingers, tipped off into claws that tapped impatiently upon one another, mimicing the thrashing movement of the thick tail that extended from his back. Huge, but not bulky, this being stood on two legs, though, with its gleaming teeth and beastial appearance, it could have easily passed for any other adjuchas.

That is, until they saw his face. Upon his face, a livid skull helmet blazed, the lines burning deep red gouges into his otherwise sheet white flesh. His eyes, burning red coals of absolute hate, were exposed, as was the bridge of his nose, lending him the appearance that he wore a muzzle, until those jaws opened and snapped shut with violent pop that caused many a hollow to flinch. Slowly, he straightened to his full height...

With a powerful leap, he landed in midst of the hollows, who at once, spread out to make a small clearing. Findor, seeing what was to come, swiftly tucked Nel toward his shell, just as Barragan gave that fatefully familair order. It was an order he had heard many, many times.

And one he did not follow now.

"Attack!" The vasto lorde roared, raising his _Gran Caida_menacingly. All but a single of hollow leapt at the chance to prove themselves before their master, and that single hollow slunk away before Barragan so much as even noticed the abscence of a single soldier.

And alas, for those who struck out at the arrancar, their fate was already sealed the moment they chose not to flee. Vicious bolts of dark lightning arced off Ichigo's body, incinerating the initial wave, a few lesser gillian who had drawn too close, and driving their fellows back. Lo, his very being seamed to shimmer with unholy light now, a radiance that poured into the bloodsoaked horns upon his mask, forming a massive sphere of black.

"What's dat?" Nel blinked, shielding her eyes against the harsh glare.

Findor blinked, slowly. Very slowly, as the orb continued to swell to mammoth proportions. Only one cero possesed that kind of raw, destructive power, and he was about to witness it firsthand. Tucking himself into the sand and dragging Nel after him, the adjuchas felt the first tremor.

All he could was brace himself, buckle down and say:

"Oh, dear."

_"Cero Oscuras." _

The startling familiarity of Ichigo's voice, entirely unchanged, boomed from behind the faceplate. With a grunt, Ichigo thrust his head forward, forcing the oncoming charge to see their doom, staring them dead in the face. A scarce few attempted to dig in their heels, claws, paws, and tentacles, but the majority rushed onward, heedless of their impending fate. A mere second later, _everything exploded_, a veritable wall of sound slamming into maddening mob of hollow, just before the red and black cero ripped through the remains of the army like so much tissue paper.

And just as it had begun, it ended.

Eyes alight with glee, Ichigo turned his burning gaze upon Barragan, who had avoided the blast by getting airborne. The once proud ruler of Hueco Muendo stared down at the ruings of his courtyard and at the group with obvious malcontent and forced himself to remain still.

"This is not over boy, I swear it!"

And then he too, dissapeared, vanishing in a blur. Ichigo watched him, go, then turned to gaze at the mound of crystalized glass his overpowered cero had given birth too. Several hollows were still trapped in the jagged spire, and their cries could still be heard, even from this distance.

"So," He sighed, switching his gaze to a slightly charred, but still concious Findor Carias. "What the devil should we do with you?"

"I would greatly prefer it if you did not kill me." Findor replied swiftly. Ichigo didn't have to glance at Nel to know that the girl was eagerly nodding her assent, and wait, did she look a bit taller all of a sudden? Ichigo shook the thought away-far be it from him to understand the growth rate of hollows-, and immediately made the mistake of speaking:

"Fine." He groaned, running a hand over his face. "I guess you can shack up with us, just for now, though."

"Hey, you're not too bad after all, arrancar."

A smooth, female voice jerked Ichigo from his thoughts.

"And you are?" Ichigo frowned as the armor melted off his body and returned to sword form. There, standing on one of the few uncrystalized dunes, was what looked like a tigger, albeit with a hollow mask and white fur, instead of the customary orange. Glittering golden eyes regarded him keenly as they approached from the fading darkness of the now dissipating cloud cover. Her tail swished across his legs lightly.

"Vega." The tigress hollow replied, licking one soot covered paw before inclining her head in all too obvious gesture of respect. "Ggio Vega, at your service, your majesty. If you don't believe me, just as Findor over there."

Findor clicked his right claw once for an affirmative, much to Ichigo's dismay.

"And another wierdo joins the group." Ichigo moaned to himself. "How am I ever gonna get shit done with all these damn groupies following me?"

**A/N: Anyone have a ghost of an idea as to what Ichigo's up to? PM me for votes peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Now, note and explanation time: Why was Ichigo able to penetrate Barragan's field? Well, that's a secret, one that you'll hear about in the next few chapters *cough*Nel*cough* YES, I have just deliberately changed the gender of a single, minor Bleach fraccion character to suit my needs. YES, it is POSSIBLE that Ichigo will gain access to his shinigami powers because his is after all, half-shinigami thanks to Isshin. YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**


	4. Dawn of Danger

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, haven't I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD Also, for those of you don't speak spanish, sorry, but you'll have to go to to free dictionary dot com to get translations for some of the words. (Arrancar do speak spanish, after all!)**

**Dawn of Danger**

Aizen Sosuke smiled.

It was a genuine smile, one filled with _genuine _elation and excitement, not the mild-mannered, ever cheerful facade he was always oh so careful to maintain around his subbordinates, much like Kyouka Suigetsu's perfect hypnosis. It was a taxing, exhausting routine that he had , made all the more pleasant by the genuine excitement he felt as he stepped out of the senkaimon, into the arid and sandy air of Hueco Muendo.

At once, he was reminded of that Arisawa child, the human girl whom Kuchiki Rukia had relinquished her powers to only three days ago in order to save herself, at this very hour. _Her _spiritual energy had been large, close to a fuku-taichou's, but this, this _prescence_, it dwarfed that of his pawn.

_'How wonderful.'_

There was an immense, _massive, _reiatsu, just below and to the north of them, surrounded by three smaller reiryoku signatures. At first it was dimmed by some sort of barrier, but past that, past all the other natural defenses it had erected to shelter itself, its owner's wild spiritual pressure blazed brighter than the sun at midday. And that wasn't even the beginning of it. The larger reaitsu was _growing_, constantly expanding, improving-

He simply _had _to meet this hollow. In terms of raw spiritual power, this ghoul came dangerously close to matching that of Captain Zaraki Kenpachi, the battle hungry captain of squad eleven, _with his limiter removed_. To encounter such a being here, in Hueco Muendo was nothing short of fate-

"Something wrong, Aizen-taichou?"

Momentarily shaken from his reverie, the bespectacled shinigami paused, turned, as Ichimaru Gin, and Kaname Tousen each stepped out of their own seperate senkaimon gate, the sliding doors snapping shut behind them. Tousen remained unfazed, but it was Gin who had spoken to him.

"No, Gin. Everything is quite alright." With a supreme willful effort, Aizen forced himself to turn away Gin's query, away from that magnificent power which his mind was already conspiring to aqcuire for his own. "It was nothing, Gin. Nothing at all. Now, let's be off."

Drawing his haori tightly about him, the captain of squad five weathered another vicious gust of wind as they continued their trek toward the apex of the dune, below which they beheld a fuming crowned creature made of both bone and purple silk. It continued to pace back and forth, shouting obscenities to the sky, and raining insults down upon the once grand army of gillian and adjuchas that stood below its throne.

"Come, let us pay our respects to the God of Hueco Muendo."

The trace smell of burnt air filled consumed them as Aizen Sosuke descended the slope.

**zzz**

**_"Ichigo. You are in danger...Ichigo."_**

_'Huh. I must be hearing things again.'_

Ichigo glanced back at his favorite hammock, arms folded behind the head, his expression torn somewhere between mild grumpiness and extreme irritation. After reluctantly accepting Findor Carias and Ggio Vega into his little group, _and _destroying the army of one of _the _most powerful vasto lorde in Hueco Muendo, the arrancar had decided it was time for some well deserved shut-eye. However, he hadn't anticipated several problems.

His cave was nowhere near large enough to accommodate three hollow. Second, these three hollow were not only a particularly chatty bunch, but each seemed to have a...difference of opinion as to what they should do next. Their disagreement had become quite loud. Finally, his third and final point, when placed in a small cavern such as this one, said argument echoed off the walls, floors, and ceiling, magnifying sound tenfold.

Now, as Ichigo toyed with the idea of just killing them all and being done with it, Ggigo said something that ultimately pushed an already very stressed Findor over the edge. With an all too exasperated retort of his own, the crab levered an oversized pincer toward his fellow adjuchas.

"Are you insane, Ggio!"

"Hardly." The tigress snorted, and licked a paw dismissively, though her glinting amber eyes suggested she was anything but. "There is strength in numbers, Findor, or have you forgotten that?" Her tail swished at the inquisitive remark. "But that doesn't matter to you, does it? No, you always were a coward, Findor. No wonder you followed Barragan around like a little _perra _and Dios knows how you let him torment you-

Findor bubbled angrily and spat back a vicious retort in spanish.

"Silencio, idiota!"

"Cobarde!" Vega hissed back.

As the argument continued to degenerate, Ichigo found his patience beginning to do the same. Silently, he began to drum the fingers of his left hand upon the throne's arm rest, the rhythm seeking to distract his boiling temper.

Ichigo _screamed_, a wall of white rearing up between the bickering adjuchas at the same instant in which he opened his mouth. In that instant, everyone froze. Ggio and Findor, who had been about to come to blows, now glared through the thick white barrier that separated them.

Nel was the first to recover her voice, with her two comrades following suit shortly therafter.

"Itsygo?"

"Was...

...that?"

"That, was, _Danku." _Ichigo stated calmly, resting his head on his right hand, giving himself an almost regal appearance from where he sat in the shadows. With a snap of his fingers, the transparent glass shattered, and dissolved into thin air, leaving its master to, pull himself off the throne.

"But how?"

Ichigo held up his index finger, and drew a small circle in the air, leaving a trail of blue flames in its wake.

"A shinigami I ate awhile back, he taught it to me."

"A...shinigami?" Nel stared up at her fellow arrancar with wide eyes. "Itsygo, did you really meet a shinigami?"

_"Ate."_ Ichigo clenched his hand into a fist. "For some strange reason, I can use shinigami magic. Its only a few spells though, and they're all pretty shitty stuff , so I prefer not to use any of 'em unless I absolutely have to." Silence fell over the group at this, and for good reason. A self made arrancar hollow wielding shinigami powers. The concept certainly would be considered taboo amongst Hueco Muendo's denizens.

With a small shudder, Ichigo shook the thought away, and turned his attention towards Findor and Ggio. Though the pair had simmered down somewhat under his wrath, their little squabble could prove to be a major impediment if it wasn't addressed soon. It didn't help that Ichigo hadn't a clue as to what their little 'discussion' even pertained to. With a small sigh, the arrancar sank back into his rough throne of stone and spoke:

"Now, what exactly is going on here."

"Ah." Ggio perked up at once, amber eyes gleaming. "I was just about to suggest we recruit more allies to your cause m'lord. Granted, we may require a more secure stronghold than this ramshackle little dwelling-

"Pardon?" Ichigo scowled, his reaitsu abruptly rising to form a visible red aura about him. "You'll have to repeat yourself, Vega. I could have sworn that you just said I should abandon my base of operations. You didn't say that did you. I'm fairly certain you didn't, aren't you?"

It wasn't a question.

"That is precisely what I was against-

"Silencio."

Whether Findor was just a tad too quick to voice his opinion, or perhaps, quick to discredit Ggio, Ichigo knew not. However, irked as he was, the arrancar whirled on his newest minion, golden black eyes blazing through dense reaitsu, daring the adjuchas to interrupt him again. And for good reason. This '_ramshackle little __dwelling' _had served Kurosaki Ichigo well over the past century. The winding path and tunnerl that led to his abode, was in fact, paved with seki seki stone until the very last yard. The mysterious ore of course, blunted all reaitsu abilities, making detection via pesquis nearly impossible, ensuring that he received no visitors, unless a hollow randomly wandered in. And ever since ascenion to vasto lorde.

None had dared to willingly seek him out.

When Findor was swift to silence himself, Ichigo lowered his hand, beckoning the crab adjuchas to come closer. When Findor nervously did so, Ichigo merely rapped him lightly across the head, in a light gesture of admonishment. But light to an arrancar did not mean so to an adjuchas, and Findor hissed in surprise as a small, hairline fracture appeared in the chitinous armor of his shell. Nel fidgeted and resisted the urge to dive for cover in a corner when Ichigo briefly glanced at her. Perhaps it was to see whether or not she approved of his actions, perhaps something else.

Regardless, he lingered on her for but a moment, and when she had stopped shivering, then, and only then, did he speak.

_"Findor." _Ichigo's voice had an almost pleasant air to it now._ "_Your arguement, if you would."

"I would that we should stay here." The reply was surprisingly forthcoming, if not a bit hasty. "This cavern is well fortified, well supplied, and our position makes it easily defendable." Gesturing widely, Findor spread his pincers. "We need only to build upon the foundation, m'lord, strengthen that which we already possess, and then we can gather allies at your leisure-er...that is, if you wished to do so, gathering allies, I meant to say."

For a moment, Ichigo was taken aback. He'd never once, not once, even considered to improve his humble abode. Granted, he'd never _needed _to, it had only been him and...and... A wellspring of painfully fresh memories threatened to smother him when he dared to pursuer the idea, and the arrancar quickly shied away from the images they brought. Repressing a shudder, the former vasto lorde realized that Findor still awaited a reply.

Forcing his expression to appear lightly amused, instead of grim, Ichigo leaned forward. He'd already begun to formulate a plan in the back of his mind, but at the same time, he needed to be sure that this wasn't another doublecross. These two adjuchas appeared to mean well, but so had dozens' of other one time would-be partners that he'd allied himself with during his own time as a lower class hollow. Life had taught him that.

Friendship was a convenience one could seldom afford in this world, and partnerships were always bloody and messy. The strong survived, and the weak always died, unless they could somehow make themselves appear worthwhile to someone strong, and serve under him. The thousands of hollow once under Barragan's command had likely possesed the same mindset. Safety in numbers, as said, and so they had believed the lie.

Pity, it had gotten them all killed.

"An amibitous plan, Findor Carias. I did not take you for the sort. But tell me, why would I need allies? If, as you said, we're well defended here, then why on earth should we venture out for anything other than food? The more allies we gather, the larger a target we will become."

"Fortune favors the bold, Ichigo-sama." Surprisingly, it was Ggio, not Findor, who answered, and now padded into view beside him. "Your strength is unsurmountable, and the charm of your little friend over there- And here she cast a glance toward a bashful Nel-is very difficult to resist."

Ichigo said with a frown; "So _that's _what drew the two of you to me, then? My overwhelming strength, and the fact that you think the the little idjit over there could charm the mask off of a Menos Grande if she wanted to?"

Vega made a purring sound that Ichigo equated to the her version of laughter.

"Ironic, isn't it? That is, more or less, what _I _was about to say, m'lord."

"Perhaps we should ask the little one of her opinion in this matter." Findor suggested meekly.

"Oh for the love of," Exasperated, tired, and badly wanting all this talking to just end so he could fall asleep, Ichigo dragged a hand across his face and not so subtley mumbled through it. "Oi, idjit! Get your ass over here."

"H-Hai!" Nel stammered, clambering up from the corner in which she had nearly fallen asleep. "Itsygo?" When the arrancar angrily waved her over, she scampered to the right of the throne, her hazel eyes heavy with sleep as she looked up, attempted, and failed, to stifle a yawn. "Wut is it?"

"Whaddya think." Ichigo authoritatively took the hand that had been covering his face, and now placed it on Nel's skullcap. "Is this place getting too small for all of us, or what?"

"A' course!"

"Eh?" Ichigo groaned aloud. "Aw, damn." He'd grown accustomed to everyone agreeing with him, and now, began to regret it. Findor would have smiled, had he the capacity to do so, and in that moment, Kurosaki Ichigo realized that he had been most thoroughly beaten at his own game.

"Then the matter is settled." Vega's lips pulled back into a triumphant grin. "What would you have us do first, m'lord?"

"Damn it." Ichigo muttered, remarked sullenly as he reached into the small pouch belted to his hip, and withdrew a rolled up piece of white parchment. "Alright then, Nel, Findor, if you two idjits' want a bigger base so badly, get out there and start digging. Ggio, you stay the fuck put."

Before Nel could protest, Findor swept up in one of his pincers and scuttled outside. As ordered, Ggio remained at the foot of the throne, content to lick her paw, refusing to speak until spoken to. Only when Ichigo rose, and beckoned to the stone table positioned at the very back of the cave, did the adjuchas acknowledge him and pad over to peer at its occupant, a large, crumpled piece of paper, complete with grids and squiggly lines.

"A map." Ichigo declared proudly, unfurling the parchment with practiced ease, and placing four stones at its corners to keep the tattered document from rolling itself back up. "I've spent the past year mapping out as much of Hueco Muendo as I can, everywhere except-

"I _know _what a map is." The tigress sniffed indignantly, her first real display of defiance in Ichigo's presence. Whether tha could be attributed to the sudden abscence of Nel and Findor, or, merely the fact that Ggio did not enjoy being referred to as a mindless animal, was anyone's guess.

"So it would seem." Ichigo was too engrossed in the chart to register the implied insult. Instead, he scraped up a piece of chalk, how he had obtained such a thing in Hueco Muendo remained beyond her, and tapped it against the left edge. When he had finished, he spoke.

"This," Ichigo jabbed a finger at the northernmost corner of the map, which was now sectioned off by a series of slash lines. "Is where we should find an...acquaintance of mine. I haven't heard from her in the past decade, but I've seen signs of activity in this area, and she fits the bill."

He glanced at Ggio unexpectedly, an animated look in his eyes.

"And?"

"And I," Ichigo grinned maniacally. "Am going to see just what she thinks of you idjits.'"

_**zzz**_

It was they next morning, if such a thing could exist in Hueco Muendo, after three solid hours of non-stop sprinting, that they saw it. There, looming up like two giant teeth, they stood. A terrain feature virtually impossible in the featurless dessert, they simply defied all logic.

"Are those...mountains?" Ggio banked a hard a left to chase after, grinning Ichigo when his sonido caused him to shift toward the twin peaks, and Nel to squeal in surprise from her perch on the arrancar's shoulder.

What they had thought to mountains, were indeed mountains. But not in the sense that a typical human or hollow percieves a mountain. Most mountains are composed of rock, soil, and other lifeless composite materials. This, was not one of those mountains. No, not at all. Mound upon mound of dead hollow, they lay, their withered corpses and lifeless eyes reaching toward the perpetual crescent moon that provided light for all the denizens of the hollow world, as if it were their salvation from this tortured existence.

And at the foot of these two mountains, positioned directly between them...

A hunched figure of a man.

The man made no effort to speak when Ichigo and his allies approached, but he did shift slightly, turning his head through a matted tangle of chestnut brown hair. His onyx grey gaze lazily sweeping over the rag-tag group, pausing on Vega and Carias, lingering upon Nel, then fastening firmly upon Ichigo. Once he had finished appraising his guests, the man relaxed, albeit slightly, and the tension immediately ebbed away.

At length, he _did _speak.

"So...I see you've met Barragan."

Findor and Ggio remained posthumously silent, though tensed slightly. The memory of their former master was not one that either adjuchas wished to relieve, regardless of their current allegiance to Ichigo. Nel gasped,clenched at her head as a flicker of pain wormed through her skull.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo demanded of the man.

"A very good question." The man yawned. "I could ask the same of you."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

_"Kurosaki...Ichigo?"_ The man blinked and scratched at his head with an index finger. "You know, I've heard that name somewhere before...

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo waved the inquiry away. "Look, oldtimer, you like you've been around for awhile, so I'm going to ask _nicely_. Have you seen a female vasto lorde round these parts? She shouldn't be too hard to spot-

_"A vasto lorde, you say?"_ The man turned his body so, though he still remained seated, he was now fully facing Ichigo. "Now, that's a funny question, Ichigo. "Last I checked, there were only about a handful of us around anymore, and you're asking me if I've _seen _one of them?"

"Just answer the damn question!"

"Nope." The man answered matter of factly. "You're the first visitor I've had in about a month. Sorry, but I can't help you."

"You're lying." Ichigo spat. "I _felt _another reaitsu just before we showed up. And it sure as hell wasn't you. Now, why don't apologize, and tell me where your little friend is, and what you're hiding, and we'll be on our merry way."

The man did not answer, not in the verbal sense. Instead, he answered with an explosion of azure reaitsu that slammed everyone, excluding Ichigo, to their knees. Ichigo gritted his teeth against the spiritual pressure and replied with a small burst of his own, negating the other's.

"Nice trick." A burst of red lightning danced across his form as he spoke. "Now, tell me what I want to know and I'll leave _without _your head."

"No." The man replied with a firmness in his voice, an irritation, an _edge_, that had not been there before. "We were in the middle of a very nice nap before you and your little troop came tromping along, and now, you're badgering us with questions _I _don't have the answers to. Leave us alone."

_'Us?_' Everyone blinked.

But Ichigo would have none of it.

"And if I won't?" The arrancar, for indeed, _that _was what this man was, removed the cowl of his cloak now, revealing a human face and a broken mask, the latter a piece of a lower jawbone. He rose from his crouch, revealing a second figure, hiding in his shadow. A girl, a slight little thing, bearinga skull cap much like Nel's, though her bright pink irises were hidden behind an unruly mop of light green hair and porcelain.

"Hmm?" Ichigo arched an eyebrow. "This one yours?" Noting Ichigo's disbelieving stare, the girl scowled, and brushed a hand across her face, revealing her sole visibly eye, narrowed furiously in the arrancar's direction. With a small cough, she turned her gaze back to the man.

"Starrk...her voice, young by comparison to her partner's, held both indecision and anger within it. "This guy means business. We should take out his friends first, before they gang up on us."

"Yeah, maybe we should." Starrk yawned, switching his liquid steel gaze back to Ichigo. "Oi...Ichigo, right? Any chance you'd just leave if I asked you nicely this time?"

"I-Itsygo," Nel whimpered fearfully and skidded back several paces, to take shelter behind Gggio and Findor. "B-Be cawful. "D-Dis guy's weally stwong." Ichigo, paying absolutely no heed to his frightened comrade, smiled arrogantly, hand sliding to the pommel of his own blade.

"Well of course he's strong," With a rustle of wind, the massive blade escaped the tangle of vines, slamming into the dunes at their feet. "But I'm stronger than he is."

"I'll take that as a no." Starrk sighed now, bending down to reach for the yellow sheathe and katana that lay at his feet. "Well then, if you won't leave, then you're going to force my hand-

And Ichigo smirked.

"Well then, if _I _won't leave, and _you _won't answer my question you and I, we're gonna have a bit of a..._problem!" _Scarcely had the former vasto lorde finished his sentence, then he reappeared behind the man, his massive cleaver descending in a decapitating arc, from left to right.

It smote empty air as its target reappeared to the right in a burst of static.

"And here I thought you had a little more poise than that," Stark scolded as he held his own _katana _up in a fighting stance. "Distracting an opponent to attack them when they aren't looking? For shame."

"There is no shame in battle." Ichigo retorted gruffly. "There's only the winner, or in your case...the loser."

"I see," Stark quipped before vanishing from sight, his body suddenly reappearing behind Ichigo's in a flash of brown and tan and silver, his _katana _slicing horizontally through the air. Ichigo ducked below the decapitating strike and spun with both arms outstretched, his massive blade spinning like a black and white whirlwind. Stark leapt backwards as the low-striking attack was executed, the ragged cloak fluttering behind him just long enough to lose an inch off the back.

Starrk's counter was as quick as it was effective.

_"Bala." _

The word cracked like a whip as a brief but powerful bolt of blue light leapt from the arrancar's free hand into Ichigo's chest. Staggered by the short but mighty charge, the orange haired arrancar struggled to regain his balance. Starrk did now allow such a counter, leaping forward while slashing downwards with his yellow-handled sword. Ichigo dodged to the left, hoping to slash inwards, but his unsteady legs betrayed him carrying his body faster than he had anticipated.

_'Shit!'_

_"Bala."_

Starrk declared once again, abruptly dropping his zanpaktou, thrusting both palms forward, to deliver a powerful one-two charge directly into Ichigo's unprotected chest. Ichigo glanced down, eyes widening as an explosion of gore covered the sand. Then he was launched backward.

"That...looked painful." Findor remarked warily, flinching as the arrancar's wild momentum carried him into a far off sand dune.

"Itsygo!" Nel squeaked, watching the plume of black smoke rise into the horizon."Itsygo!" Terrified, the little arrancar whipped a frantic gaze toward Findor and Ggio, both of whom were equally shocked by their leader's apparent defeat. "Why isn' Itsygo regeneratin'?"

"Instantaneous regeneration?" Starrk frowned, eyes narrowing, a small measure of concern in his voice as he turned towards Nel. "You mean to say something like my cero wouldn't be enough to kill your friend?"

"A' course not!" Nel shouted back, "Sumtin like dat won' even sratch Itsygo!"

"Is that so?" Starrk arched an eyebrow.

Vega remained skeptical.

"But he took a _direct hit_. Regeneration or not, Ichigo-sama _had _to feel that one."

As if in response to Ggio's concern, Ichigo _exploded _out of the sand, a fully charged cero shining from his now open mouth. In the instant that the red beam exploded from his gullet, so did a particularly foul retort, one that instantly gave away his position. As if the reaitsu weren't enough.

_"Eat it, bitch!"_

Starrk whirled, a blue orb of his own already prepared, hovering before his now lightly bleeding chest.

_"Gran Rey Cero." _

He stated calmly, unflinching as the azure beam slammed into Ichigo's crimson. Vicious, violet purple, _screamed _into existence, spraying unreleased reiryoku wildly about. Nel watched helplessly from the sidelines, silently hoping that Ichigo's blast would triumph. But though the two arrancar were clearly of equal speed and power, there could be no comparison to Stark's superior cero. After a brief tug of war, blue began to overwhelm the red, and then, push it back altogether. To Ichigo's credit, he fought on to the very end, abandoning the blast only when it neared his face...

But by then, it was already far too late.

Ichigo howled, outright in disbelief, as his own _cero_, burgeoned by the flames of Starrk's _Gran Rey Cero,_roared over and into his hierro. Even armored as he was by the protective steel skin, the inferno tore through him with ease, overwhelming his defenses until they ceased to exist. Bathed in the vortext of flame, those ten seconds felt as if they dragged on into days, but at last, with a loud pop, the _cero _died, and he lay there.

With a groan, Ichigo rolled onto this back, the heat of the cero slowly dissipating from his body. Every breath was agony, every movement took an eternity of energy from his reserves. As he staggered to his feet, sight and sound returned to him soon afterward.

"Enough." Stark called into the cloud of smoke. "I'm not a fan of finishing moves."

"Son of a bitch." Ichigo spat out from within the fog, his zanpakuto held high once again. "You think that's it? That I'll go down...so easily!" Starrk froze, slate grey eyes widening ever so slightly. This surge of reaitsu, this terribly familair spiritual pressure. He knew this energy. He knew it well-

"So." Ichigo smiled coldly, the black spiritual pressure already welling up, eager to devour his body. "If you're an arrancar, then let's see how you fare against me in my release state." His grin suddenly grew frightening. "You should be honored, actually. You're about to die by my hand."

"Oi!" Sheathing his sword with one hand, Starrk abruptly held up the other, gesticulating rapidly. "Wait just a moment there!"

Ichigo frowned.

"And why the _fuck _should I?"

"Well, that's because," Starrk hesitated for a moment, to which Ichigo swore angrily.

"For fuck's sake! SPIT IT OUT!"

"You need to stop because, well," Starrk sighed, straightened himself up, and looked Ichigo square in the eye."Because I'm...the one responsible for putting your mother into a coma." Now, if Ichigo had been angry before, then this was an entirely new plateau of hate for him.

All he saw was red...red...RED!

_"BASTARD!"_

**A/N: REVIEW PLEASE! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! PM for feedback on the plot! Anyone have a ghost of an idea as to what's happening? No? GOOD! PM Review peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Now, note and explanation time: What the bloody hell is Ichigo's MOM doing here? and in a COMA? YES, it is POSSIBLE that Ichigo will gain access to his shinigami powers because his is after all, half-shinigami thanks to Isshin. NO, I will not reveal who Ichigo munched on to suddenly learn a kido like that. YES, Rukia gave her powers to TATSUKI! YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**

_Next time: Dawn of Dying_

_"There's a reason for that." Starrk supplied quietly. "He feels that he has to do this, before his time in this realm is up."_

_"It-sy-go?"_

_Silently, Ichigo sheathed his sword. He seemed to deflate then, this mighty mountain of a man, who had seemed so unshakeable, so invincible, only mere moments before. Now, his blazing gold eyes seemed pale, and fill with terrible wisdom that no man should have to bear._

_A cracked smile broke through his face._

_"Because, I'm dying."_


	5. Dawn of Dying

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, haven't I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD Also, for those of you don't speak spanish, sorry, but you'll have to go to to free dictionary dot com to get translations for some of the words. (Arrancar do speak spanish, after all!)**

**Dawn of Dying**

Typical of vasto lorde in general, Halibel Tia was a pragmatic sort. Whatever unwelcome cards life dealt her she accepted as gracefully as she could and went on about her business. Journeys into the interior of Hueco Muendo that stretched beyond arrancar territory fell into that category. She was uncomfortable traveling anywhere inland, but especially uncomfortable with traveling to places she hadn't been before.

The gaping cavern that yawned before her, was such a place. What had obviously been a dwelling for one, was no longer such. Recent digging had been done to expand upon the original structure, which was little more than several slabs of iron, timber, and steel. Bent and welded together by intense pressure and heat, these improvements suggested that separate living quarters were in the process of being constructed.

She was surprised therefore, when her initial survey yielded aboslutely nothing. A smoldering fire over which the remnants of something once edible remained on a spit. A rough, stone hewn throne in the middle of the room, its very prescence demanding attention and authority. A simple rough sack that served as a hammock in the far corner, directly behind a stone table which furnished some sort of map and other instruments.

And a single, tattered photograph, contained by a small square of wood, nailed to the very, very back of the cave. The picture was faded, but she could clearly make out the boy with orange hair, and the woman who cradled him under both arms, fierce, yet gentle look in her doe brown eyes.

With something akin to awe, or perhaps just idle curiosity, Tia Halibel gazed at the pair. A mother and her child, undoubtedly. That much was blatantly obvious. But why, oh why, would a _hollow _posses such a keepsake? Few, if any, even recalled their past lives, and even so-

With a jolt of pure disbelief, Halibel realized that the truth she had been seeking for so long, the answers to the questions that had eluded her for the past year, now lay naked, bare,before her eyes. The repercussions of her actions screamed silent obscenities back at her, that she flee.

The amazement of her discovery rooted Halibel to where she stood.

This was not the ramshackle dwelling of a wild adjuchas, though she clearly picked up the scent, two of the middle class hollow. This cave had obviously been occupied very recently, the lingering traces of reaitsu, not yet even a day old, confirmed this. A total of four occupants lived here, one of which, was far stronger and superior to the other three. However, its owner had moved recently. His reaitsu leaked away to the north, then sharply curved upward, where he'd burst through the ceiling of sand and back into daylight. She could feel it now, raging in the Northeast.

Despite her best efforts, the vasto lorde winced as a faint tremor shook the cave, spraying dust and splinters down from the ceiling. The reiatsu she sought had now been joined by another's, but though the second reaitsu was many times more refined, the first genuinely...frightened her.

Everything about _that _reiryoku set Halibel on edge. His reiatsu was beyond monstrous. It frightened her. It felt as if the very walls threatened to press down upon her, and though she was certain that she was indeed alone in this place, a touch of panic wormed its way into her thoughts. She'd ordered Apache and the other's to remain at the hideout, knowing that the three adjuchas would be easy prey to the monster that called this place home. Now, she began to regret that decision. The incessant arguing of her adjutants would be much more prefferable to..._this._

If this monstrous creature were to return and find her here, he would kill her. Halibel knew this, just as she knew the iron-clad rules of battle. Yet her uncertainty persisted, nagging and insidious. Perhaps she gave this hollow too much credit. Obviously, he had learned to tolerate other's, or their would not be any evidence to suggest that he was forming a small coven of his own. That presented her with a _slim _chance of survival.

Did he realize that she had been tracking him these past three months? Had he reasoned out, as she had, the dissapearances of lesser hollow, the changes that were beginning to reshape Hueco Muendo? Her brow furrowed. She must assume so. She could not afford to assume otherwise.

Halibel's hand slipped from the photograph, to her side.

_'So be it.'_

Gravel crunched beneath her boots as she folded her legs and delicately placed herself into the throne. Behind the faceplate of her mask, her unseen lips tightened into a paper thin smile. Above it, her emerald green eyes narrowed slightly as she allowed her reaitsu to fill the air around her, saturating it with the dense currents of reiryoku. With so much Seki Seki stone surrounding the camp, it took every bit of her concentration to draw the energy from the air, maintain the field of her own energy, and even _more _to mold both to suit her purposes. Suddenly there was a spark, then another, and another, _and still another_, one birthing immediately after the death of its sibling. The very walls crackled, screamed with power.

At last, when the air itself threatened to tear from the strain, Halibel _hurled _the reaitsu. Like an unseen spear, it flew straight and true, belting toward the location where the massive reiatsu had stopped. At once, she felt it, a twinge, a brief fluctuation in one of the two powers that raged far overhead. Whatever war had been raging in the desert, it had officially come to an end, as something _massive _flared into existence.

Halibel had just an instant to grip tight the throne, then the vicious surge of malcontent fastened upon her, as did the full weight of the most horrible reaitsu she had ever experienced. Gritting her teeth, Halibel permitted herself a small, grim sense of satisfaction. She had trespassed into the monster's den, violated his territory. Naturally, he was angry. He had every right to be downright feral with her.

It was an unspoken rule between all vasto lorde-for this being certainly had to be one-that you _did not_, under any circumstances, cross into the realm of another's, unless you were prepared to fight to the death, or, in extremely rare cases, wished to offer some form of alliance.

He was now very much aware of her.

_'Mission accomplished.'_

However, even with all of her power, even at this distance, it was all Halibel could do to stay upright under the spiteful vice. Still, she took the moment to assess the strength of her potential opponent. This being was not like Barragan, one of the old one's, the very first, and very elite hollow, to ever populate Hueco Muendo. The energy felt...new, wild, and so very, very, _sad?_ Whoever wielded this power was new to this realm.

New. The word struck her as odd, and oddly funny at that. A new vasto lorde. One who had singlehandedly bested Barragan, annihilated an army of hollow in an instant, and one whom she had never, not in all of her many lifetimes, ever seen with her own two eyes. Elation filled her at that.

One way or another, she would meet this being soon.

Then both the heat and the pressure were gone, and she was exhausted. hHaving done all she could to make herself a veritable beacon to all of Hueco Muendo, Halibel slumped down into the thrown and allowed herself to drift into blissful sleep. A single question filled her mind, over, over...

Would he kill her?

_It would be interesting to know._

_**zzz**_

_"BASTARD!"_

_Stark moved._

One moment he stood before Ichigo the picture of sorrow and discontent as the enraged seeker swept toward him. The next, he had appeared _behind _the young arrancar, blade drawn in the right hand and held to boy's throat, while the other seized Ichigo's sword arm and squeezed until the youth gasped in pain and dropped his blade. And only then did the Starrk in front of Ichigo vanish, into thin air, leaving Ichigo to stare blankly.

And _then _he began to struggle.

_"LET GO!" _He roared, the full weight of his reaitsu blazing to the fore in a vicious pillar of red light that consumed the two arrancar. "YOU LET GO OF ME RIGHT FUCKING NOW, OR I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR MOTHER FUCKING ARMS OFF AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR MOTHER FUCKING-

"I'll release you, _when you calm down."_Starrk warned, his grip tightening marginally, producing a sharp crack in Ichigo's right wrist. "This isn't what you think it is boy, so you need to be quiet and _listen."_

"Itsygo!" Nel winced, gasping, as if the sound of his wrist snapping were that of one of her own ribs being broken. "ITSYGO!"

Starrk didn't have the time to blink, or even look down, as Nel opened her mouthwide, revealing an all too familiar red light. Before Starrk could even cruse his own luck, Nel's cero crashed into him. It came from too close a distance, and though it did little to inflict any real damage, the momentum behind it sent the two arrancar sprawling, wrestling for control over one another. The struggle was brief, with Starrk subduing Ichigo once again. However, his victory proved to be short lived, thanks to the two points of reaitsu now focused directly at his head.

Ggio hissed, low and deep in the back of her throat, revealing a ruby red cero gleaming behind her teeth. Findor, likewise, already had a fully primed cero of his own, gleaming from his open pincer. Both blasts, regardless of how utterly ineffective would be pointed directly at Starrk.

Who now sighed in exasperation.

"Alright, _alright._ I'll let your boss go. Now put those _cero _away before you hurt yourselves."

"Starrk!" Lillenette yelped, bolting to her feet. "Don't let him go! He'll just attack you again!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Starrk replied with a yawn, and as he reached to cover it with his right hand, Ichigo was suddenly free. The vasto lorde stared for a moment, as if he couldn't believe this, but his suspicion was quickly overpowered by rage. Roaring in disbelief, he whirled, blade drawn and in hand.

"Son of a-

Whatever Ichigo had been about to say, he never had the chance to finish. All at once, he _hissed_, eyes narrowing to furious golden slits as his body automatically came about, facing to the southeast. Then he stiffened, and became still. _Too still,_ his eyes sliding shut, his breathing even.

"Itsygo?"

"Pesquis." Ggio breathed, suddenly very relaxed as well. "He's searching for the intruder at our hideout."

"W-W-Wha?" Nel gaped in dismay, partly upset that she hadn't even been _aware _of another reiatsu until the saber-toothed tigress had mentioned it, and moreso to the fact that everyone suddenly seemed to be ignoring her altogether. Come to think of it, she still didn't feel anything over there either! "Dere's somebody at da cave? But Itsygo said dat was impowsible! Nowbody no's were id is!"

"Well someone apparently does." Findor muttered sullenly, a cloud of bubbles spewing agitatedly from his mouth. "Why must this always happen?

Starrk arched an eyebrow at the sudden reversal, and was about to question the possibility of such a thing, when Ichigo abruptly snapped to attention. It was a sudden, jerking motion. One moment it was as if he had fallen asleep on his feet. The next, his blank and empty eyes were shooting wide open, blazing with a fire, his placid visage now twisted by a snarl that was a just a tad too human for any hollow to have.

"Oh." Ggio blinked, having cornered the reaitsu.

"My." Findor continued, eyes wide and gaping at what he had found.

"_Fuck." _Ichigo spit in disbelief, ending the sentence.

And then, with a snap of _sonido_, he was gone.

_**zzz**_

Ichigo eyed her warily now, this hollow, no, this vasto lorde who had dared to intrude upon his most sacred home, and fall asleep in his throne. He didn't much care that he'd left Nel and the others behind. They could find their own way back, or not at all. He was far too focused on this...woman, to care about anything other than discovering her purpose here, then kicking her the fuck out when he found out what it was.

_'Who does she think she is?'_

Was she even sleeping? Or was this just a ruse to draw him in? Fuck it, he decided, he'd just march right in anyway. Without even the slightest pretense of stealth, Ichigo loudly stamped across the stone walkway, into the cave, and stopped less than a foot away from the throne.

Upon closer inspection, his mind, as it was wont to in times such as these and in the rare presence of a female hollow that actually looked, well, female, began to wander. To Ichigo's credit, he _tried _to say something, but in the end, all he managed was a weak, stuttering cough.

She moved then, emerald green eyes sliding open so she looked up at him through her eyelashes. After an appraising glance over, she looked at him pointedly, causing the arrancar to become quite uncomfortable under the vasto lorde's piercing stare.

"You." She greeted slowly. "You are not what I expected to meet, arrancar."

"Uh...yeah." At a loss for words, and having not a clue as to why, Ichigo hastily straightened himself up. The vasto lorde followed him with a calculating stare, her gaze inevitably sliding to the massive cleaver upon his back, the remains of his mask, and then back to his face.

"I get that alot."

"My name is Tia Halibel." The intruder identified herself with a slight wave of the hand, rising as she did so, to look Ichigo square in the eye. She did not appear at all uncomfortable by the lack of space between them, but her mask hid whatever expression her lips might have worn.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." The name slipped out of its own accord.

_'So much for killing the intruder on sight.'_

"Ah." Halibel replied frostily. "Tell me then, Kurosaki, how is it that you are an arrancar? It is my understanding that it takes another hollow to remove ones mask, and at least an hour for the transformation to solidify. I would have heard of such a phenomenon had it occurred, and I have not, and yet here you are, an arrancar, in heart and soul, or lack, thereof. I assume that woman in the photograph assisted your progress?"

Whatever spell Halibel had placed upon Ichigo, it shattered under the weight of those words. Halibel must have realized this, for her arm blade slammed into his own, just moments after Ichigo had drawn it. This proved to be a mistake, as Ichigo reached past the block with his free hand, wrapping his fingers around her sword arm, and pulling her face forward. White porcelain shattered as his knee rammed into her mask.

"Oh, now you've fuckin' done it." Ichigo glared down at her, his once placid gaze, now full of hate. "I was just starting to calm down after that business with Starrk, but now you've gone and got me fired up again!"As more shards of the white ivory flew, Halibel spat out a bloody gob.

_'Incredible.'_

Then Halibel was free, thrown through the cave wall, and back into the sand, rolling so that she came up on her feet, not her stomach. Ichigo swept right after her moments later, vanishing in a burst of sonido before they could collide. Halibel tsked, and raised the blade to her back.

Ichigo saw through the feint, and shot past Halibel, wincing as her blade carved through _his _back. He winced as the wound stitched itself shut, leaving only a trail of blood on his otherwise flawless flesh. Instantaneous regeneration was definitely a perk. The pain of it, was not.

"Did I strike a nerve?" Halibel patiently waited for Ichigo to face her again, before readying her guard.

"That's none of you're fucking business."

"Cero." She replied, a thin wall of light rushing toward him.

Ichigo laughed, reappearing before her, the pommel of his blade slamming into her mask yet again. Halibel noted that he seemed to be aiming for her face, not any other vital points. Applaudable. The fastest way to kill an enemy was to lop off their head, and that seemed to be his intent.

But appearances could be deceiving, as the arrancar evaded another sweep of her sword, one that could have easily taken his arm, and skipped backwards, almost daring Halibel to follow. She shot after him, her sword opening a thin slice in his cheek as he launched himself back again.

"And what makes you think I'm looking for allies?"

"You did not attempt to kill me on sight." Halibel's eyes twinkled in the blackness, suggesting that she was amused. "That is not something that a man looking for allies would have done. And since you have not made a _serious _attempt on my life, _that _suggests you are willing to hear me out."

"That, and you did not release your zanpakuto, which means, although you are irate, you are not angry enough to kill me." She lost another section of her blade when his empty hand crashed into it, warding away. "Also, I believe you are deliberately going after my _mask_, not my head."

"That's how you become an arrancar, remember?" Ichigo made a jerking motion across his face with one hand, seizing her blade in hand, effectively ending the battle. "You rip off your mask. Besides, I hated that ugly faceplate of yours anyway, so I'd say it's an improvement."

"Touche." Halibel nodded, her now visible lips quirking into a small smile as Ichigo released the blade. "However, as entertaining as this conversation is, you still, have not answered my question-

A dull buzz of sonido interrupted them.

"Son of a-

"I _told _you this was a bad idea, _nina_." Starrk sighed upon appearing with Ggio, Findor, and Nel in tow, while Lillenette, obviously sulking, refused to stand anywhere near the three of them. Scooping his companion up, it was clear that the arrancar wished to beat a hasty retreat. "There, I've brought you here as promised. Now, if you'll excuse me-

"Ah," Ichigo raised a finger in warning, reappearing directly behind Starrk, one hand clamped down upon the shoulder of his enemy. "You, are not going anywhere, fucker. I still have a few choice words for you, most of which involve loss of limb and life. Then, you are going to tell me-

"I would concur." Halibel stated coldly, her teal gaze locking with Starrk's, ignoring the questioning stares she received from Nel and the others in turn. "I have been searching for you for quite some time Starrk. Quite a coincidence that you should just happen to come out of hiding at this very moment when I _wasn't _searching for you, isn't it? I'm certain _Ulquiorra _would love to hear about this."

"Ah," Starrk smiled nervously at the mention of his onetime partner. "It's a pleasure to see you again too, Halibel."

Lillenette groaned and slapped one hand across her helmet.

"Look, are you getting at something here?" Ichigo, obviously eager to 'interrogate' Starrk, glared at Halibel from behind the arrancar's shoulder with blatant irritation. "Because I was just about to-

"I am speaking of the plans a certain shinigami has for you and our kind, Kurosaki." Halibel's words cut like a knife, silencing everyone. "They coincide with the illness you contracted upon your visit to Las Noches, if my theory is correct. I also believe that your mother, and the one who originally killed the both of you in your human lives, Grand Fisher, may be involved as well."

Ichigo froze, his eyes narrowing to furious slits of gold black. With an angry hiss, he shoved Starrk aside, making the vasto lorde before him the full focus of his rage and frustration.

"How," And here the arrancar drew his blade, "Do you fuckin' know about that?"

"In battle, she who know's her enemy is the one who is victorious. I am also aware that you seek a cure for your illness, one that your mother may have discovered- and here Halibel glared at Starrk- before she came under attack by our third party here. Tell me, where are you keeping her? Surely you must have stashed her away safe somewhere, if not for her sake, then your own."

"..." Starrk remained ominously silent, which did him little good.

"Kurosaki." Halibel gestured for Ichigo to follow her off to one side. "Come, we have much to discuss." The instant they were out of earshot, Nel fixed Starrk with the most piercing glare someone of her size.

"Why did yuz do dat to Itsygo's modda?"

"There's a reason for that." Starrk supplied quietly, hastily, as Ichigo glared at him. "It was either that, or let her die. Ichigo, he's trying to make a decent life for himself and his mother here. He feels that he has to at least do this, before his time in this realm is up. But there's more to it than-"

Starrk had lost Nel the moment he'd mentioned Ichigo's impending death.

_"_It-sy-go?" The little arrancar spoke very slowly, not out of anger, but fear, as she turned to wear the arrancar was angrily discussing a rather private matter with Halibel, one that had him gesticulating rapidly and shaking his head. Now, he jerked his gaze towards her.

"Oi," The former vasto lorde called, stamping back over to them with Halibel in tow. "I can hear you, idjit."

"Is it true then, Ichigo-sama?" Findor inquired quietly. "You are terminally ill?"

"M'lord, why didn't you tell us!" Ggio all but roared-

_And Ichigo roared back._

"FUCK OFF! I don't have to tell you guy's shit!"

"They need to be made aware." Halibel insisted.

Ichigo hissed at her, but silently, sheathed his sword. He seemed to deflate then, this mighty mountain of a man, who had seemed so unshakeable, so invincible, only mere moments before. A god amongst hollows and the stuff of nightmare's to shinigami everywhere, had been humbled by the abrupt declaration of his own mortality, an incurable ailment that he described as the result of too much excess reaitsu.

His body was essentially breaking down from his own power. The fact that he could regenerate served to stave off the process, but each time his wounds healed, he became stronger. As he became stronger, his spiritual pressure increased, breaking bones and ribs swifter, tearing tissue faster. It was downward spiral. Now, his blazing gold eyes seemed pale, and his face filled with terrible wisdom that no man should have to bear.

A cracked smile broke through his face.

"Yeah, I'm dying. I have about a year or two left to live, tops, unless I do something stupid and really get amped up. Whoop dee fuckin' doo."

**A/N: REVIEW PLEASE! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! PM for feedback on the plot! Anyone have a ghost of an idea as to what's happening? No? GOOD! PM Review peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Now, note and explanation time: What the bloody hell is Ichigo's MOM doing here? and in a COMA? YES, it is POSSIBLE that Ichigo will gain access to his shinigami powers because his is after all, half-shinigami thanks to Isshin. NO, I will not reveal who Ichigo munched on to suddenly learn a kido like that. YES, Rukia gave her powers to TATSUKI! YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**

**__****Next time: Dawn of Decision and Daybreak**


	6. Dawn of Devilry

**Weeeeeeell. I've certainly let this one sit awhile, haven't I? Consider this as an appetizer while I get the old juices flowing again, you'll be seeing the next chapter very, very soon. XD Also, for those of you don't speak spanish, sorry, but you'll have to go to to free dictionary dot com to get translations for some of the words. (Arrancar do speak spanish, after all!) I will try to provide translations for you, however.**

**Dawn of Devilry**

In Hueco Muendo, the days are long. The night's, infinitely moreso. There is no way to tell time, no way to record the countless millenia that had passed since the very first hollow had set foot upon its arid shores. It is littered with countless skeletons, both of the dead, and the betrayed.

Sleep is impossible here. Those few who dare to drift off into that forbidden dark are consumed by their bretheren. Yet should they live to reawake, those sad souls are in turn consumed, by the madness that dwells within the empty shell that was once called a human heart.

In this hellish wasteland, there is but a single rule. The weak will always die, and the strong will survive. The means to this ultimate end are unecessary, and inconsequntial. Alliances are meaningless here, and partnerships, short lived at best. If asked to desrcibe the home of all hollows, one would need no more than a word, unequal in its significance and magnitude, to give detail to this world of screams and sorrow.

Hell.

Peace is a foreign concept here, as alien as the nonexistent sun that never replaces the moon. One cannot survive through words alone here, but through _strength_, born both of body, and mind. And strength means little, oh so very little, if one does not possess _cunning_. Lesser gillian, those who lack such fortitude, are consumed by mindlessness, and denied their chance, no matter how slim, to regain any semblance of humanity.

Those who dare to have but a _sliver _of of the three, are honored here. Those who _command _such gifts, wielding them aggressively, yet cautiously, are the chosen few who will live to see their next moonrise. They, are the hollow who will surpass all others, even the vasto lorde, given time.

_They are, the arrancar. _

But the cycle does not stop there, with the removal of one's mask. Those arrancar of true power, those who rise even higher than their bretheren, are the true elite of this barren wasteland. They are the general's who command armies, the commander's in time of war. Their number's are few, ranging from a handful at times, to nearly a dozen. Many years have passed since the last great gathering of these chosen few, who now gather once again to discuss a matter of vital importance. Great changes have taken place since these ten last took their seats at the table.

A shinigami is actively recruiting members of their kind to join his cause. His charm was irresistable, his logic twisted and pervaded, distorting and warping truth's, bending them to his purpose, drawing more to his cause by the day. His promises of great power and his vow to take Las Noches, were but a drop in the ocean when compared to their current concern.

The _true _matter at hand, you ask?

Whether a newborn arrancar should be terminated, or invited to join their ranks. This youth had remained relatively quiet at first, but his recent activities had begun to raise concern's, particularly amongst seven of the ten. And so, this meeting had been called to iron out the problem, one way or the other. But a group of hollow this large, with four arrancar and a _vasto lorde_ amongst them no less, could not be allowed to exist.

That, and there was the fact that one of their own was amongst them.

"Have we decided on our course of action then, Cirucci?" The arrancar at the head of the table inquired, his gaze directed to a perculiarly dressed woman, clearly somewhere between her late teenage years, given her appearance. Thick, violet hair hung over her back, framing a delicate face that housed a pair of burning turquoise eyes. She smiled slowly, a cruel expression twisting that beautiful visage into something ugly.

"We have."

"Dondochakka and Pesche have been informed, I trust? Dordonii?"

"Si." A lavishly dressed arrancar with a finely groomed mustache and a thick accent replied. His stern expression suggested that he wished to say more, but he refrained from doing so, in part because he never had the chance to speak. Another arrancar, this one with a large, orange afro, abruptly rose from his seat and _slammed _both palms down upon the table, thusly warranting the attention of the entire room.

"Is there a problem, Mosqueda-san?" The arrancar standing at his right inquired politely. "You seem to be quite fired up."

"Of course there is!" The _septima _imperiously jabbed a finger in the direction of his fraccion."Szayel Apporro! You and Nnoitra were the one's that started all of this to begin with!" The fraccion blinked, the tittered softly to himself, uncaring of the scrutinizing glares leveled at both him and the _octava _espada, Nnoitra Jirruga. To his credit, the lanky espada only shrugged, aloof as everyone now turned to stare at Mosqueda.

"That is quite the accusation." The leader spoke softly. "Have you any proof, Mosqueda?"

"I'll find some, _primera."_

In the darkness that always shrouded their leader, a small smile could be seen.

"Very well then. I will take into consideration your opinion's on Kurosaki Ichigo and Coyote Starrk. Until then, all of you are dismissed." He placed one hand upon the table, and rose, slowly, the gesture universal in its meaning. "I declare this meeting of the espada... adjourned. For now."

**_zzz_**

At his feet, the fire continued to die. Exhaling softly, he prodded at it with his finger, and when that failed. A small cero instantly sent a surge of new life roaring through the small bonfire. Satisfied, Kurosaki Ichigo turned his gaze away from the warm glow, and to less pleasant thoughts.

His bitter arguement with Nel was still all too fresh in his mind. Apparently, telling all of your allies that you had a pending expiration date was _not _the norm here in Hueco Muendo. He'd been beset by Ggio and Nel ever since, one of whom would not listen to reason. Nel insisted, was absolutely certain, somewhere in that tiny head of hers, that a cure to 'Itsygo's disease' could be found somewhere in Las Noches.

Ichigo did not share her opinion, which he explained to her, in many unpleasant words. They had suffered a...falling out, to put it gracefully. Now, he sat upon a stump of granite, gazing at the moon, idly wishing that Hueco Muendo had a star or two in its inky black sky to at least preoccupy his attention. No such luck. The sky was as devoid of life as it ever was, broken only by the cry of the occasional _Menos _somewhere up above.

"Hey, sitting and sulking won't help, you know that, right?"

Ichigo snarled, making it all too clear that he did not want to be disturbed. The footsteps behind him paused for a moment, then continued towards him, heedless of his attempts to dissuade further converation. Moments later, the green haired girl whom he knew only as Lillenette sat down beside him, regarding the arrancar quizically with her single pink iris. Ichigo refused to acknowledge her, but she continued to stare.

"So...how'd you remove your mask?"

"With my hands." Ichigo groused, realizing that the girl wasn't going to go away. Somewhere in the back of the cave, Starrk, Halibel, and the other's had settled in for the night. He'd ordered Nel away just an hour ago, when the fire was still roaring brightly. Now, the embers smoldered, refusing to go out, but dying all the same in their feeble efforts to stay alight. One by one, they were extinguished, until a solitary flicker remained.

It too, slowly faded from existence.

"So what's your deal with Starrk?" Ichigo had decided that if Lillenette was going to be asking questions, then he may as well start asking some of his own in return. "The two of don't exactly seem buddy buddy to me, and yet you go wherever he does, or at least, you're not far behind."

"It's complicated." Lillenette pulled her knees into her chest and continued to stare straight ahead. Ichigo was tempted, and resisted the urge to knock his fellow arrancar from her perch. Lillenette was a thousand times more annoying than Halibel's three servants were, but at least she, knew when to shut up and let things stew. Those three adjuchas bickered too much anyway, yet another reason Ichigo wanted them dead.

But, they were Halibel's attendants', and when he'd initially voiced the idea, the vasto lorde had taken rather...unkindly to it. Backed by Nel and the other's, Ichigo found himself in the minority of wanting to dispose with what he referred to as dead weight. And so, he had gained three unlikely allies, all in the space of less than a day. Everyone just flocked to him. The thought of it made his musings even darker than before.

"Well, it _won't _be complicated once he tell's me where my mother is." Ichigo scowled and made a slashing motion across his throat. "Once I get him to cough up the location, I'm afraid it'll be light's out for your buddy. He's already pissed me off one time to many, and I hate lazy bastard's."

Starrk was hiding the location of his mother. The one he'd been going to see, the one whom _Starrk _had put into a coma. The one whom Starrk refused to explain his partnership with, only that he'd 'put her under for the right reasons'. Ichigo did not buy it, but any further attempts to interrogate Starrk were summarily stonewalled. Though the arrancar did not look it, he was Ichigo's exact equal in terms of strength.

Oh sure, he could be wiped off the map at a moment's notice, but that would require serious exertion. An effort of that magnitude would surely send Ichigo's virus into a donward spiral which would only shorten his life further and make everything else all the more grim. He didn't need that.

_"Turn your sadness into kindess, and your uniqueness into strength."_

Ichigo stared at Lillenette as if she'd just sprouted a third arm and called herself a shinigami. She stared back, the beginnings of a sad smile beginning to dawn on her face. For how long the unlikely pair stared at one another was anyone's guess. But at length, Lillenette broke it.

"Something Starrk told me when we first met." Lillenette poked at the embers with the back of her heel. "I think it means that sometimes, you just have to be patient. He'll tell you where he's keeping your mom, you just have to give him some more time. It's only been a day, after all."

"Pfft." Ichigo snorted. "Did I ask you for a lecture?"

"You want me to leave?" Lillenette asked, softly, deadly, her voice vicious. "Because I _didn't _come out here to hear you bitch and moan. This ain't no pity party, Ichigo, this is Hueco Muendo, so get the fuck over people live, good people die. Sometimes it's the other way around, and hell, sometimes they don't even deserve _that _either, but you have to_ fucking deal with it."_

For a moment, Ichigo was silent.

Then he whirled, blade leaving its scabbard just as a rush of air greeted him. Hollow eyes narrowed slightly, widening as he felt the sting of cold steel upon his cheek. At some point, though he had absolutely no idea where she had hidden it, Lillenette had drawn her zanpakutou.

_'She's fast.'_ Ichigo mused, but said:

"You've got a big mouth for someone your size."

"Gee, thanks! I try!" Lillenette spat back over cold steel, but there was no denying that both arrancar had begun to smile. With a single thought, the two sheathed their blades and resumed their original positions, staring up at the moon, the cycle of which Lillenette broke by abruptly rising to her feet. "But seriously, you want me to stay out here? I'm getting tired of sitting on my ass and keeping my eyes open."

"No." He replied sharply, then, as if realizing his mistake, sighed, and leaned against the wall to finish the remainder of his sentence. "I want you to...go to sleep. take my hamock, if you want. Make yourself as comfortable as possible, kick, snore, whatever. Just get some sleep and don't say a word to me, or anyone else about this, do you understand?"

"Fine, fine," Lillenette grumbled, "I won't say a word."

"And no bickering with Starrk when you go in there." Ichigo continued. "He's finally asleep and I'm tired of listening to the two of you."

"Got it." She was already past him, strutting toward the cave.

"Oh, and...Ichigo added, almost as an afterthought, calling at her back. "Lillenette?"

"Eh?" The petite arrancar twirled, her cloak billowing about her from the movement.

"Thanks."

"Sure." Lillenette smiled, not at all deterred that she'd just been told not to pay her favorite arrancar a visit. "Oi, you comin', or what? It's cold out here." With a tired sigh, Kurosaki Ichigo doused the fire and followed after her. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Didn't I tell you not to say anything?"

"Maybe." Lillenette stuck out her tongue, sliding into the sling after Ichigo. Surprisingly, there was a great deal of room to be found in the thin fabric, even though their combined weight brought it dangerously close to scraping the floor. Ichigo reached for a blanket on the floor, one of the few items he'd 'borrowed' from the human world, and draped it over her. Blinking, and blushing, Lillenette took the gift, without hesitation.

_"Gracias."_

"Sleep." Ichigo muttered, his eyes sliding shut as she shifted, back against his own. "You and I have a mission, first thing tomorrow."

"Eh?" Lillenette twisted so she was looking at his back. "Just the two of us?"

_"Si." _Ichigo sounded as though he were already half asleep.

"Why?"

With a low growl, Ichigo rolled over, fixing her with one open eye, face mere inches from her own.

"Because its part of my ultimate goal, and because I fuckin' said so."

"And your ultimate goal is?"

Ichigo groaned and slapped one hand over his face.

"If I tell you, will you shut up and sleep?"

"Yup."

"Fine. My ultimate goal is...

**_zzz_**

_(The Next Day)_

_Grimmjow Jagerjack was not happy._

After devouring his five thousandth hollow, the adjuchas had, once again, felt his power only _marginally _increase. Roaring in disbelief, the panther whirled, looking for another _gillian _to devour. There were none, the last of which was already retreating back into the darkness of Menos Forest. It had been like this ever since he'd ditched Shawlong and the rest of his gang. Keep moving, keep eating, keep getting stronger. Same ol' same old.

Only, it _sucked._

As his teeth closed around the last chunk of flesh from the unfortunate _gillian_, Grimmjow fought, and failed, to resist the urge to glance North, where he once again felt a massive shockwave of reaitsu scorching the sand into glass. Something big was over there, he mused, something that should, hopefully, make a worthy opponent, meal, and drug to silence the incessant voices in his head. Licking the last of the blood from his paws, the adjuchas took off into a healthy jog, the rythmic pounding of his feet serving to distract him from the ever present thought on his mind.

_'Please, devour us. Although we do not possess it, you have the potential to become one. To become a-_

_"Vasto lorde." _Grimmjow exhaled sharply, his pace slackening for a moment, before resuming in earnest. Why was he hesitating? Only weaklings hesistated. Only the weak needed to band together, in order to survive. Shawlong, Di Roy, all of the others, they were weak, and he was strong. The thought of joining up with another band of hollows outright disgusted him now. Teammates, allies, nakama, what a bunch of bull! And then he was upon them, and all thoughts of reason left his mind as he hurled himself forward, clearing a dune of sand, and then...

The vasto lorde turned, exposing slitted green eyes, hidden behind a helmet and thick black hair. The horns atop his head, those great black wings and sharp, pointed tail, led Grimmjow to believe that his initial assumption was correct. Its clawed hands curled into fists, as it hissed.

"Another. Another has come to face me?"

The panther grinned, exposing razor sharp teeth.

"You bet your ass, buddy."

"I would much rather bet yours, _adjuchas."_

The cero sheared an inch or so of skin from his right shoulder. Green light cast their shadows upon the rocks, lending them a nightmarish air. Scarcely had Grimmjow landed, then the creature was before him, one hand slamming him by the neck, into the ground, the other, curling about his weapon of joice, a green javelin of pure energy. Grimmjow's attempts to struggle only caused the vasto lorde to tighten its grip on his windpipe, depriving the adjuchas of vital air. Grimmjow roared, thrashing violently as the vice constricted ever so slowly about his neck.

Eventually, he slowed.

_'Damn it, damn it, damn it..._

It was over.

"Another one has come to die." The vasto lorde repeated, half breathing half sighing as it raised the pike, ready and prepared to strike. "I am beginning to grow tired of this. One by one, you come to me, hoping to attain a new level of power with my defeat. And one by one, you fail."

"You're a chatty fella, aintcha?" With one last effort, Grimmjow forced his eyes to open, and give his executioner a witty retort. "I thought you were gonna kill me. Get on with it already if you're gonna do it!"

"Foolish."

The vasto lorde spoke once again, sounding incredibly far away as Grimmjow's vision began to fade.

And suddenly, the pressure was gone.

"Who...are you?" The vasto lorde asked, but Grimmjow was too weak to answer. A swift kick in the ribs followed, but Grimmjow grit his teeth and refused to give the vasto lorde the satisfaction of responding. And then something seized him by the tail and pulled. With a vicious hiss, Grimmjow roared, snapping at whoever had dared to pull at the appendage. His attacker yelped, a high pitched giggle that was _not _that a vasto lorde.

"Oi! Watch it, whiskers!"

_"Whiskers?"_ Grimmjow incredously rounded on the source of the voice, only found himself face to face with a a scowling girl who looked to be in her preteens at the latest. The mud brown cloak she wore obscured her body, but her single pink eye blazed furiously with untold wrath.

Oh, and then there was that broken mask and human face.

Ice blue eyes widened.

"The fuck're you?"

"Lillenette." The girl spat back, placing one hand on an unseen hip as she leaned forward to glare at the ungrateful adjuchas. "My friend and I over there just saved your ass. _You _oughta be more thankful to us, loser!"

"Loser? You grabbed my fucking _tail!"_

_"ULQUIORRA!"_ A voice roared suddenly, and Grimmjow spun away and around from his arguement with the girl, just in time to watch two doom blasts, one green, the other red, cancel each other out with a dull thump. The vasto lorde was quick to reappear, but this time, he was joined by a muscular hollow with long orange hair, and a form that looked as though it had come straight from the ninth circle of hell. And yet, it was vaguely...

Human?

"Instantaneous regeneration, huh?" The hollow with the orange hair chuckled, low, deep, and dark as he wrestled with the vasto lorde. "Y'know, you're just the person I could use right now. I've been itching to blow off some steam, and you fit the bill! I can cut you to my heart's content!"

"Is that so?" The vasto lorde maintained its blank expression as the orange haired arrancar abruptly lost his right arm and left leg in an explosion of black ichor, leaving him to topple unsteadily forward as he was released, and summarily impaled through the chest seconds later. "I wish I could say the same to you, Kurosaki Ichigo, but now, you're finished."

Ichigo, giving no indication of having heard Ulquiorra, cackled, his tail slamming into the vasto lorde with an audible crack. Staggered, the hollow lurched back, wincing as Ichigo's hand curled around his slender neck and pulled him down into the sand. Moments later, the arrancar emerged from the cloud of sand, spouting a newly formed leg, with his right arm already beginning to re-emerge from the stump at his elbow.

"I see." Ulquiorra was suddenly behind Ichigo, his lance of green light crashing against the arrancar's forearm, even as the wounds closed. "You too, posses the ability to regenerate. Yet you did not have this ability before." Sparks flew as hierro clashed with blazing steel, and the two.

"Picked it up along the way." Ichigo replied smugly, seizing Ulquiorra by the shoulder, a terribly dark red sphere of light already beginning to form in the center of his broken horns. "I also, picked up this little technique that you should see...

_"!"_

Lillenette slaped one hand to her face.

"Ah, crap."

_"Adios." _Ichigo snarled, the black flame pouring rushing from the tips of the shattered porcelain and pouring into Ulquiorra from point black range. Awash in the crimson energies, the two hollow briefly vanished for a moment. No ordinary hollow should have been able to survive this inferno, which blackened the very sands to ash, and then burned those ashes into superheated glass, but when next they _did _appear, Ulquiorra was missing his left hand, right wing, and both of his legs, leaving him to glare impotently at a slightly singed, but very much unharmed, Kurosaki.

"How was that, Ulquiorra?" Ichigo spread his arms with a flourish, grinning widely as smoke poured off the two of them. "I call it _Cero Oscuras._ You didn't exactly give me the chance to build it up to full power, but I'd say fifty percent was more than enough to do the job, wouldn't you say?"

_"Fuck."_ Grimmjow spat, staring at the blackened crater in disbelief._ "That was fifty fuckin' percent?"_

"It was...adequate." The vasto lorde admitted with a hiss that could be equated to a both a sigh or a snarl. "However, Kurosaki Ichigo, it would seem that your ego has not diminished in the slightest since our last parting. If anything, you have become quite the pompous fool since then."

"Have I?" The arrancar took a step forward, baring his teeth in an obvious challenge. "With this much power, I need a mindset to match it, wouldn't you say, Ulquiorra?"The two vasto lorde class hollow's scowled at one another for a moment, before Ulquiorra spoke once again:

"Indeed."

Ichigo barely had time to laugh before Ulquiorra rematerialized in front of him, the green-eyed vasto's lance crashing down into his own. The orange-haired arrancar was sent rocketing backwards and through the air, his body spitting smoke as it flew. Ulquiorra buzzed out of sight once more, this time chasing his prey out through the open air of _Hueco Muendo's _desert. Apparently unconcious, Ichigo made no move to counter.

Ichigo was suddenly gone. Ulquiorra's eyes widened in surprise as he reappeared directly in front of him, the crooked claws blades in his hands glowing intensely as they crisscrossed at his neck. Ulquiorra leapt back swiftly, barely avoiding the scissoring weapons that would have removed her head. But as he jumped out of his reach, the black flames that were dancing along the edge of the claws suddenly reached out at him like dark tendrils. Caught off guard, he could only raise up his arms to block against the opaque flames as they wrapped around his limbs. The burning wisps immediately began to eat through the bone-like armor that covered him, the flames digging painfully into the skin beneath.

Hissing in pain, Ulquiorra spun, spun on the ground and swept Ichigo's legs out from beneath him. The moment he hit the ground, Ulquiorra slammed one of the lightning spears down through Ichigo's sternum, seeking to, pin him to the desert floor. Ichigo would have none of it. Juniper green eyes widened as one of Ichigo's arms grabbed onto his wrist, stopping it mere inches away from his neck. The two hollow grappled for a moment, before Ulquiorra's bat-like wings propelled himself and his unwilling passenger upwards and into the night sky. There, they fought.

Two pillars, one green, the other a deep, crimson black, raged back and forth as the twin cero collided with one another. A massive explosion negated the two, their owners' registering as little more than blurs of white, black, and orange. Thick, black smoke poured into the sky when their struggle threw the duo into, then through, one of the ruby red pillars that dotted the desert. The spire and its debris were blown away in the ensuing explosion of spiritual pressure.

"Sopresa!"

Ichigo reappeared with a wild cackle, right hand descending in a vicious decapitating arc just as his adversary reappeared from the rubble., his body still flickering from the after affects of sonido. Instantly aware of the descending limb, Ulquiorra parried, twirling his lance like a bo staff, forcing the emboldened arrancar to retreat, lest he be the one to lose his head. Ichigo skidded to a halt, heels grinding into empty air as he regained his balance. Ulquiorra regarded his one time ally coldly, wary to close the distance between them, but at the same time reluctant to give his enemy the chance to regroup and form a proper plan of attack. In the brief time in which he'd worked with Kurosaki Ichigo, time was deadly.

Banishing the broken javelin he brandished, Ulquiorra placed his hands together, creating a harsh glow of light from between his fingers.

"_Lanza del Relámpago."_

He swiftly separated his hands and created a lance as the distance between his palms grew. His right fist grasped at one side of the spear and he swung back with it, his eyes looking into the face of his opponent. Without so much as a word, Ulquiorra's weapon roared forward, demolishing the distance that seperated him from his opponent. Lillenette clicked her tongue against the inside of her cheek, producing a small popping sound.

"Stupido."

Ichigo made no effort to dodge the deadly javelin. In fact, he didn't even seem to be _aware _of its prescence. No, as the deadly bolt bulleted toward him, the arrancar stood stock still, staring blankly into space. Only when there was but a mere foot seperating him from impending doom, did the arrancar raise his hand, palm open, as if he were greeting an old friend. With a deafening roar, the Lanza del Relámpago crashed into his hand, shuddering as it struggled to make progress against the unyielding wall. The arrancar did not budge, even as the flesh of his arm peeled away.

Taken aback, Grimmjow swore virulently.

Ulquiorra was inclined to do the same.

"Impossible...With only one hand?"

With a grunt, Kurosaki Ichigo closed the fingers of his hand into a fist. The Lanza del Relámpago emitted a sharp squeal of protestation, spraying sparks as it struggled to make headway. Though it continued to char and blacken his arm, it did not succeed. Ichigo stared at the spear as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world, then slowly, ever so slowly, raised his gaze to meet that of a bewildered Ulquiorra Schiffer.

"Is that all?"

With blistered and charred fingertips, the arrancar snapped the lance of lightning in half. Ulquiorra had only an instant to comprehend this, before he too, plummetted to the ground, suffering from a deep gash in the center of his chest. Ichigo watched Ulquiorra fall, spared him a cursory glance, then swiftly blasted the vasto lorde out of the sky without so much as a second thought. Only then did he makes his way toward him.

"Now, let's have a chat, Ulquiorra...

"Oh, fuck this!" Grimmjow spat around a mouthful of flesh, vanishing in a burst of sonido as Ichigo approached. "I'm outta here!"

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder, uncaring as the adjuchas swiftly burrowed his way back into the sand from whence he had come. No matter. Let him take a piece of Ulquiorra. He'd only become stronger for it, and who knew? He could actually make a good rival someday...

Lillenette heard Ichigo chuckle. She could completely commiserate; she felt like smiling, too.

They were now one step closer to Ichigo's ultimate goal.

**A/N: REVIEW PLEASE! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! PM for feedback on the plot! Anyone have a ghost of an idea as to what's happening? No? GOOD! PM Review peoplz! Feel free to ask any questions! Now, note and explanation time: YES, I have altered the timeline a wee bit for the sake of keeping everything cohesive. YES, it is POSSIBLE that Ichigo will gain access to his shinigami powers because his is after all, half-shinigami thanks to Isshin. YES, Rukia gave her powers to TATSUKI! YES, this will be a very interesting story, as you'll all get to see the members espada before they were...well, the espada!**

**Translation(s) **

**Gracias= Thanks**

**Lanza del Relámpago=Lance of Lightning.**

**Stupido=Stupid.**

**Adios=Goodbye.**

**Sopresa=Surprise.**

**__****Next time: Dawn of Decision and Daybreak**


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